With MLB Spring Training coming to a close, let’s talk about the top performances, surprises, and outlooks on the regular season.
Matt McLain of the Cincinnati Reds stands out the most by far. McLain is ranked first in hits and runs scored, with 27 and 18, respectively. He is also tied for first in home runs with Shea Langeliers of the Las Vegas Athletics with seven bombs, and ranked third in runs batted in, or RBIs. McLain had a slow 2025 season, with a .220 batting average and only 15 home runs and 50 RBIs. So seeing these numbers from him early on was a very strong sign for Cincinnati and their fans.
Another strong performance came from National League Rookie of the Year, Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin. His hard-hit ball rate is 74 percent, which is tied for the best with nearly 500 other major leaguers with at least 30 plate appearances. His average exit velocity, which is the speed the ball is hit when it leaves the bat, is an astonishing 97.2 miles per hour. He ended Spring Training with a .325 batting average and 2 home runs, practically cementing himself as one of the best young stars in the league.
Guess who’s tied with Baldwin in hard hit percentage? 24-year-old outfielder Wyatt Langford of the Texas Rangers is tied with Baldwin in hard-hit percentage. The thing that’s different from Baldwin is his average exit velocity, which is over a mile per hour faster at 98.5 miles per hour Langford has been known to show off in Spring Training ever since he landed on the Rangers Opening Day Roster in 2024. His swing-and-miss percentage is an incredibly low 10 percent. This Spring Training, he had more walks (six), than he did strikeouts (five). Very, very promising indeed.
Now let’s talk about the predictions. As everyone already knows, the Los Angeles Dodgers are one of the toughest teams to beat in the MLB. They are back-to-back World Series champions and have some of the biggest stars in baseball, such as Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, and others. The most well-known is Shohei Ohtani, the superstar who was the first to ever achieve 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases. He also pitches, which makes him even scarier. His fastball averages around 97-98 miles per hour, his sinker averages around 96-97 miles per hour, his splitter averages around 87 miles per hour, and his sweeper/slider averages around 84-85 miles per hour. This guy is no joke.
The Dodgers also picked up some serious talent in the offseason. They signed closing pitcher Edwin Diaz, an all-star closer who has been at the top of the league the past 2 to 3 years, besides 2024, when he suffered a season-ending injury in the WBC. The Dodgers also signed Kyle Tucker, another all-star who plays the outfield and is known for his serious power from the left side of the plate. The Dodgers are heavy favorites to go back-to-back-to-back this year. But don’t count out the New York Mets.
The New York Mets have definitely had one of the most surprising and emotional offseasons. In the offseason alone, they lost three of the longest tenured players: Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nimmo, and their biggest hit, Pete Alonso. However, they made some blockbuster signings as well, such as Bo Bichette, Freddy Peralta, Marcus Semien, and Luis Robert Jr. Their younger players are top tier, with studs Nolan McLean, Freddy Peralta, and Kodai Senga, Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor, Devin Williams, the list goes on. The Mets are filled with some of the best players and young stars in the league, but few of them have played on a team together. This leaves fans wondering if they will be missing a level of teamwork that other teams have.
All in all, this season is going to be very exciting. With tons of new players on just about every team and division, there is definitely going to be a race to the playoffs until the last game of the season. All anyone can do is sit back, relax, and enjoy the next 162 games of the season. Because how can you not be romantic about baseball?
