5 Breakout Candidates In Upcoming Season
The MLB season is on the horizon, and plenty of players are showing out in spring training and looking to make the jump and break out into stardom this summer.
This upcoming Major League Baseball season has a ton of interesting storylines ready to play out. Is anyone up to the task of taking down the back-to-back reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers? Can anyone eclipse Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani for league MVP? What stars are on the horizon, ready to bring the next wave of excitement to the game of baseball?
Here are five players ready to break through the wall and announce their arrival this season.
Top Prospects Ready for the Spotlight
Let's knock a couple of the easy ones out of the way. St. Louis Cardinals top prospect JJ Wetherholt and Baltimore Orioles top prospect Samuel Basallo are two easy candidates to have breakout years. Both have shown electrifying hitting talent in the minor leagues, and both are highly touted by baseball pundits.
While Basallo is backlogged by Adley Rutschman and Pete Alonso at catcher and first base, respectively, there's a legitimate opportunity to be the catching tandem with Rutschman and DH when he is not catching.
With 19+ home runs every season over the last three seasons in minor league baseball, his power threat is going to be a large part of the Orioles' generating offense this season, and batting in the same lineup with Alonso, Rutschman, and Gunnar Henderson, he will be well protected in the lineup and will get the chance to do damage.
Wetherholt, on the other hand, is entering a Cardinals team with an identity crisis; they don't have one. A team that has bought into the rebuild and, by trading Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan, the Cardinals are all but rolling out the red carpet for their first-round selection from two summers ago. From college ball at West Virginia to the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds, the left-handed hitting middle infielder has dominated at the plate.
With the Cardinals taking a step back and focusing on the development of their core, Wetherholt should get ample opportunities to impress, and with how he has performed in the minors, he should be ready for the jump to Major League Baseball and be the driving force in the Cardinals' offense. He was also picked by ESPN to bring home the National League Rookie of the Year Award.
Young Stars Poised to Break Through
Bouncing back to the American League East, the Boston Red Sox have a couple of eye-popping pieces. The low-hanging fruit is Roman Anthony, but another Boston outfielder looks like he is on the verge of breaking through the barrier. Ceddane Rafaela is tearing the cover off of baseballs this spring, and after a 151-strikeout season in 2024, he was able to knock that down to 117 a year ago.
While a 100+ strikeout season two years in a row is not what the doctor ordered, his on-base percentage and slugging percentage went up from last year. Rafaelea is entering his third full season with the Red Sox and is primed to break out if he continues to take good at-bats and show improved plate discipline. He could rise to the top of the Red Sox lineup.
Another piece of easy picking, but it is hard to ignore the exit velocity numbers Kansas City Royals outfielder Jac Caglianone is putting up this spring. Three extra base hits over 115 mph, including a 120.2 mph double. Caglianone was rushed up last season out of necessity due to a struggling outfield in Kansas City, but he was a top pick for a reason, and with exit velocity numbers like those, it is clear to see why. With a full spring under his belt to continue to learn the outfield after being a primary first baseman, he should be in rhythm come Opening Day.
The final selection in this list is going to be Cincinnati Reds starter, Chase Burns. Tons of hype coming out of the draft and into his rookie season, but he posted a 4.57 ERA in 13 appearances, including eight starts.
Burns has electric stuff, and pitching in the majors is much tougher than the minor leagues; hitters are much more composed, along with the majority not playing to keep their careers alive the next day. It may only be two appearances for 4.1 innings this spring, but the right-hander has posted a 2.08 ERA with seven strikeouts in that time. After getting the rookie jitters off last season, Burns should be able to come in more composed and more confident this season.
The future of Major League Baseball is bright, and there are plenty of future stars that were left off this list. With baseball talent as deep as it is now, the game is setting up to be more and more entertaining and competitive down the line.
Join the Rundown community — free. Jump into the discussion, react to our stories, and connect directly with writers and fellow fans.
Baseball is better when everyone’s in it.
