One of the beautiful things about baseball is it always surprises us. Every year, no matter how intelligent the various projection systems or how bold the predictions, we see the implausible throughout the MLB season.
Think of some of the shocking individual performances over the past decade:
• Rookie Aaron Judge hitting 52 home runs in 2017 after entering the season as ESPN's No. 44 prospect -- and later breaking Roger Maris' American League record with 62 home runs in 2022.
• Mookie Betts' stunning 10.7-WAR season in 2018, in which he hit .346 and slugged .640 while going 30/30.
• Shohei Ohtani's first MVP season in 2021, when he hit 46 home runs and posted a 3.18 ERA in 23 starts.
• Ronald Acuna Jr.'s dazzling 40/70 season while hitting .337 in 2023.
• Chris Sale returning from years of injuries in 2024 to not just win the Cy Young Award but capture the National League pitching Triple Crown (wins, strikeouts, ERA).
All of this makes you wonder: Who might some of the unexpected stars of 2025 be?
To answer this, we ran through 25 simulated MLB seasons using the Out of the Park Baseball game, pulled out a dozen of the most surprising results from players who will have a key impact this year and analyzed what their performance would mean for their team during the upcoming 2025 season.
