2025 MLB Award Predictions: Surprising Contenders Set to Shake Up MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie Races!

Every new MLB season feels like a fresh canvas — a place where legends are born, records shattered, and surprises lurk behind every pitch. As 2025 dawns, you might be wondering: will the familiar names like Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge keep hogging the spotlight, or is this the year the underdogs stake their claim? With the grueling grind of 162 games promising unpredictability, MLB insiders Zach Crizer and Ryan Fagan are taking a shot at the impossible — predicting who’ll snag this year’s MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, and Comeback Player of the Year honors. Sure, last year their crystal ball wasn’t flawless but hey, they nailed some picks that had heads nodding. So, fasten your seatbelts, because the 2025 award race might just be as thrilling—and as surprising—as ever. LEARN MORE
Really, take your pick. Jobe is considered the top pitching prospect in the game by some evaluators, so he’s a solid choice. In Boston, phenom Kristian Campbell got the nod to start the season in the bigs, and both Roman Anthony and Marcelo Meyer are just waiting for their shot at regular MLB at-bats. If Jasson Dominguez can stay healthy, he could have a big year for the Yankees. The guy who is our dark horse only has that status because the Royals seem intent on keeping him in the minors for at least a couple months. The AL is stacked with rookies who could make a huge impact this year (hi, Kumar Rocker!). 

The Dark Horse: One of the Seattle Mariners’ stable of excellent young arms, Bryan Woo has a very particular, very potent superpower. He can, and does, throw his fastball right down Main Street and get whiffs. Thanks to a low arm angle and gravity-defying jump, he has a fantastic base that keeps him in command (above-average 105 command+). If he can amp up the rest of the arsenal even a little bit, he’s going to be dangerous.

The Dark Horse: Sure, it’s early, but Jac Caglianone is already looking like a steal as the No. 6 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. The Kansas City Royals brought him to big-league camp this spring to give him a taste of better pitching, and he responded by looking big-league ready. Spring training numbers are to be taken with a grain of salt, of course, but he hit .500 with three homers and three doubles and more walks than strikeouts in 23 plate appearances. He’s ticketed for Double-A to get more experience and maybe learn a corner outfield spot, but his bat could get him promoted sooner than the Royals expected a few months ago.  

– Fagan

We’re going with Alcantara, though. The 2022 NL Cy Young is fully recovered from the Tommy John surgery he had in October 2023, and he looked fantastic this spring. He’s a workhorse, on the mound and in the training room, and appears determined to show that he can once again be an elite starter. Don’t bet against him. 

AL MVP: Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals

The Dark Horse: Does Cooperstown-bound right-hander Justin Verlander have one (or more) All-Star caliber season left in that golden right arm? He made 17 starts last year, but produced the worst numbers of his career for the Astros with a 5.48 ERA, career-worst 9.8 H/9 and career-low 7.4 K/9. He’s looked healthy and effective this spring for the San Francisco Giants, though, and haven’t we learned not to count out Verlander? 

Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, rinse and repeat? Not so fast.

Though Major League Baseball has some absolute titans gobbling up the black ink and gold-plated plaques, 162 games of baseball always produces surprises. Which young players will take leaps forward? Can anyone slow down the rise of Paul Skenes? And how will Ohtani look once he’s in pursuit of hitting and pitching glory once again?

NL MVP: Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks

Though Major League Baseball has some absolute titans gobbling up the black ink and gold-plated plaques, 162 games of baseball always produces surprises. Which young players will take leaps forward? Can anyone slow down the rise of Paul Skenes? And how will Ohtani look once he’s in pursuit of hitting and pitching glory once again?

AL Rookie of the Year: Jackson Jobe, Detroit Tigers 

Though Major League Baseball has some absolute titans gobbling up the black ink and gold-plated plaques, 162 games of baseball always produces surprises. Which young players will take leaps forward? Can anyone slow down the rise of Paul Skenes? And how will Ohtani look once he’s in pursuit of hitting and pitching glory once again?

NL Rookie of the Year: Drake Baldwin, Atlanta Braves

Though Major League Baseball has some absolute titans gobbling up the black ink and gold-plated plaques, 162 games of baseball always produces surprises. Which young players will take leaps forward? Can anyone slow down the rise of Paul Skenes? And how will Ohtani look once he’s in pursuit of hitting and pitching glory once again?

The last pitcher to win back-to-back Cy Youngs was Jacob deGrom in 2018-19, and Skubal increasingly appears ready to make that kind of statement. Since returning from injury in July 2023, Skubal has laid down 272.1 innings of utter domination. Over that span, he ranks first among starters in strikeout rate, fifth in walk rate, second in home run rate and first in ERA. He also led all qualified pitchers with a 133 whiff+ and 123 strike+.
Pumping 97 mph from the left side, he has hitters playing Russian roulette every time they try to guess between his four-seam fastball, changeup and sinker. A repeat is somehow the easiest thing to envision.