The 2025 MLB season is heating up as it approaches its quarter mark, and a few teams are catching fire at a time that might pay dividends down the line.
In this week’s roundtable, FOX Sports’ MLB reporters Rowan Kavner and Deesha Thosar take a look at the players and teams defining the early part of the season:
1. Baltimore Orioles’ GM Mike Elias recently took responsibility for the rotation being a mess. The O’s are in last place in the AL East and in the running for the worst run differential in the American League. It would help if the likes of Adley Rutschman and Tyler O’Neill started hitting, but on the pitching side, what can the Orioles do to fill in the holes they spent the offseason and early 2025 digging, before they’re too deep to do anything about them?
Kavner: Hope and pray their underperforming veterans magically perform better? Really, though, there are few obvious answers unless or until some of their current pitchers get on track, their injured pitchers turn a corner faster than expected or general manager Mike Elias trades for help well before the deadline.
My mind keeps going back to the Trevor Rogers deal last year. The Orioles needed to move some of their blocked prospects at some point, and they were in the market for left-handed help. But instead of spending the exorbitant cost to acquire an actual difference-maker at the deadline, they dealt Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers for a reclamation project in what felt like an overpay at the time — even by deadline standards — and has only looked worse since. The move is relevant now, with the Orioles still desperately in need of pitching help after a perplexing offseason in which they lost Corbin Burnes then spread their funds around in a befuddling effort to rebuild the rotation on the margins rather than acquire an ace either via trade (the way the division-rival Red Sox did) or on the market (the way the division-rival Yankees did). Other than the Tomoyuki Sugano signing, that effort has predictably failed.
There’s not much help coming on the farm, either. Top pitching prospect Chayce McDermott got his first chance of the year on Wednesday, coughed up four runs in three innings and was optioned afterward. Meanwhile, Rogers was injured to start the year and has an 8.00 ERA at Triple-A, while Stowers leads the Marlins with 10 homers and a .946 OPS (both of which would lead the Orioles, too). The return of Zach Eflin should help, and the offense is better than this, but it’s bleak right now.
Thosar: It’s not enough for Elias to just take responsibility. Self-awareness is great, but what is he going to do about this mess? He can start by making savvy trades, which is what he should’ve done in the winter, anyway, after the O’s let Corbin Burnes walk away. The Orioles had the top farm system in baseball for the past three years before a slew of top prospects graduated and they dropped down the list. But they still have exciting names in-house that could be viable trade options to swap with the right team that has more pitching depth. There’s no room for No. 2 prospect Coby Mayo on the big league roster to get significant playing time, so start shopping him in exchange for an impact arm. Outside of trades, Baltimore needs to start aggressively promoting their pitchers in the minor leagues. Finally, they can take a page from other contenders around the league and transition a bullpen arm into a starter. The bottom line is, Elias and the O’s have to get creative to make up for the organizational failure of not having high-level pitching talent ready for this year.
2. The Twins have rattled off an eight-game win streak to push their record over .500 for the first time all year, and the Cardinals extended their own streak to nine on Monday with a win against the Phillies. Are you buying what either of these teams are selling in 2025, or is this just the normal ups and downs of a long season getting more attention because it’s mid-May?
Kavner: I’m buying that St. Louis has enough offense and Minnesota has enough pitching to contend for wild-card spots. Conversely, I don’t think the Cardinals have the starting pitching depth nor do I think the Twins have enough offense to win their respective divisions.
Matthew Liberatore has provided a huge boost for St. Louis, but Sonny Gray has a 4.50 ERA, and the underlying numbers suggest some regression ahead for Erick Fedde, who has performed well thus far. Meanwhile, the Twins have gone on their spectacular run this month despite a league-average offense during their hot May stretch. I’m slightly higher on Minnesota because I believe in the Twins’ pitching and the American League is so weak, but both teams still have work to do to make me view them as legit contenders.
Thosar: I’m buying what the Cardinals are selling, but not so much the Twins, because St. Louis has been more consistent throughout April and May than the Twins, who have been too up and too down for me to believe just yet that their winning streak is a sign that they’re the real deal. Byron Buxton’s red-hot start in May has helped Minnesota improve their record, but it’s dangerous to expect him to carry the club all season. The Twins need to play more consistently for a longer period of time just to have a chance of catching up to the first-place Tigers, and even then, they need to leapfrog over the Guardians and Royals to have a shot. It seems like a stretch. The Cardinals, though, have a clearer path to contention in the weaker NL Central, with a better shot at catching up to the first-place Cubs. Keep an eye on their series against the Phillies this week, which will be a huge test for St. Louis after winning the series against the Mets and sweeping the Pirates and Nationals. They could just be winning because of their softer schedule, or they could be the real deal. We’ll find out soon enough.
3. It’s tough to look at what Freddie Freeman is doing in 2025 and not wonder about where his career is going to end up. He’s the active leader in runs, hits, doubles, RBI and total bases, and recently passed the 350-homer mark. In 2025, at age 35, he’s leading the NL in batting average (.376), slugging (.734), OPS (1.170) and OPS+ (228), and has hit an astounding .491/.532/.906 over the past two weeks entering play on Tuesday. What do you see from the Dodgers’ first baseman from here on out, both in 2025 and by the time he calls it a career?
Kavner: Eventually, I see 3,000 hits and a place in Cooperstown, though that hit milestone will depend a lot on health for the 35-year-old. The physical toll that the 2024 championship season took on Freeman is still obvious. Both his ribs and his surgically-repaired right ankle have hindered him at times early this year, and the latter issue is still evident with every step he takes.
And yet, somehow, none of it seems to matter.
He lamented his swing not feeling right for much of last season in what was a tumultuous year off the field, but coming off his historic postseason performance, he looks as good as ever at the plate this year. Freeman’s average exit velocity is the highest of his career. He’s the National League OPS leader and is also contributing above-average defense at first base. The Dodgers are going to handle him carefully, as they have with many of their players this year. But as long as his ankle holds up, I see no reason why he won’t be an All-Star for the ninth time in his career and a matchup nightmare come October.
Thosar: I think his future success depends entirely on how Freeman manages his ankle injury. We’ve seen it be debilitating for him as recently as earlier this season when he slipped in the shower and re-aggravated it. That tells me he can’t place too much pressure on the ankle even off the field, and he goes through extensive, hours-long treatment for it every day just to play. It’s a lot to maintain, and it seems like one slip-up in the treatment and recovery process could lead to a potential IL stint. Then again, Freeman is clearly able to overcome pain better than most players, and even though it’s rare in baseball, there are players who get better with age. I’m just weary of long-term implications from his ankle that might not have caught up to him yet. Regardless, he’s a lock for the Hall of Fame in my book.
4. The Diamondbacks called up top prospect Jordan Lawlar this week. It’s his second go in the majors — Arizona called him up at the end of 2023, and then he missed most of 2024 with hamstring and thumb injuries. What should we expect from Lawlar, assuming he can stay on the field?
Kavner: It’s not often a team’s top prospect gets called up in a utility role, but that seems to be the plan ahead for Lawlar. The move has been a long time coming, even if there’s no obvious vacancy for him to fill with Ketel Marte at second, Geraldo Perdomo at shortstop and Eugenio Suarez at third. When you’re slashing .336/.413/.579 as a 22-year-old at Triple-A — and you tallied an OPS over 1.000 at that level each of the previous two seasons — you’ve done all you can to demonstrate your worthiness of playing at the highest level.
Lawlar has absolutely crushed left-handed pitching throughout his minor league career, so it would be reasonable to expect him to get some DH starts against lefties while giving Suarez, Perdomo and Marte occasional days off in the field. Lawlar’s Triple-A numbers (.347/.424/.590 with 13 homers in 65 career games) were boosted both by his hitter-friendly home park in Reno and the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, but even if he doesn’t end up slugging well above .500 for his career the way he did in the minors, his combination of pop and plus-plus speed (his sprint speed ranked in MLB’s 99th percentile during his first big-league stint) and ability to hit both lefties and righties (he had an OPS over .900 against both this year) should add to an already dangerous Arizona lineup, wherever he ends up playing. The D-backs prepared Lawlar for this opportunity by having him log time at second, shortstop and third at Reno this year, and I’d expect him to work in at all three spots.
Thosar: Since he can play every infield position besides first base, I’m expecting him to receive more playing time, allowing the everyday starters to get off their feet. It will be fascinating to see if he can thrive with more regular appearances in the batting order (the D-backs think he can start 3-4 times per week) and more reps against major-league pitching. Perhaps Lawlar’s speed and pop from the right side will help Arizona pull away from the .500 mark, which is where they’ve lived so far this season. He swiped 13 bags out of 14 chances in Triple A before he was called up this year, and those wheels should give the D-backs offense a different look. He can also be a late-game weapon for them, utilizing Lawlar’s speed in tight games to score runs easier. His confidence should grow the more that the D-backs use his dynamic ability on the field.
5. Aaron Judge and Paul Skenes are both going to be part of Team USA in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, after not participating in previous tournaments — Judge because the timing just wasn’t right, and Skenes because he wasn’t even in the pros yet. With that in mind, what other first-time player would you most want to see suit up for Team USA next spring, now that those two are already on board?
Kavner: Man, so many great possible answers here. I’ll go with Bryce Harper, who represented Team USA as an amateur and intended to play in the last World Baseball Classic but was forced out by his elbow injury. He tends to rise to the occasion on the biggest stage, and it only feels right that he gets the chance to do that at the WBC at least once in his career, especially while he’s still one of the game’s most feared hitters
Thosar: Bryce Harper and Pete Crow-Armstrong come to mind. They would definitely put on electric performances, and they’ve both played for Team USA as teenagers. On the pitching side, it’s always tough to get ace-type starters to participate in the WBC because they’re still building up from the long layoff of the offseason. But it would be awesome to see Jacob deGrom pitch for Team USA before he hangs up his cleats for good. It’s unlikely he does so; he even opted to skip the 2021 All-Star Game when he was selected, in favor of focusing on his recovery in between starts. But maybe he’ll have a different perspective next spring. You never know.
Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.
Deesha Thosar is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
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