Fantasy Baseball 2025 Awards: Most valuable pitcher and hitter, most improved, best comeback and more
Geraldo Perdomo is deserving of recognition, but who else?
By
Scott White
•
1 min read
The 2025 season is over, and what a season it was. Let's take a moment to bask in it by handing out some awards.
By "some," I mean 40, which is way too many if you ask me. But there are so many players I wanted to honor that I kept coming up with new categories for them. I'm like Michael Scott at The Dundies. And the award for whitest shoes goes to ...
OK, so most of these are baseball-related. Most. But they're not the traditional MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, etc. If you want my thoughts on those, I'll go ahead and share them with you, but I promise that what follows will be more interesting:
AL MVP: Aaron Judge, OF, NYY
NL MVP: Shohei Ohtani, DH/SP, LAD
AL CY: Tarik Skubal, SP, DET
NL CY: Paul Skenes, SP, PIT
AL ROY: Nick Kurtz, 1B, ATH
NL ROY: Drake Baldwin, C, ATL
You see? Boring. Now, let's get to the good stuff.
Most valuable hitter
Raleigh was the 87th player drafted on average and ended up placing third in 5x5 Rotisserie and fifth in Head-to-Head points, which would be tremendous value for, say, an outfielder. The fact that he delivered one of the all-time great home run seasons as a catcher, the position that we normally grade on a curve because of its many built-in disadvantages, makes him that much more valuable.
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Most valuable pitcher
Thought to be more of a high-floor innings-eater type coming into the year, Sanchez ratcheted up his velocity to add bat-missing to his already superlative strike-throwing and ground ball-generating abilities, elevating him from being merely one of the top 50 pitchers drafted to a genuine Cy Young candidate.
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Bobby Big Bat award
Not since Luis Gonzalez in 2021 has a 56-homer season been so overlooked, and as always, the Bobby Big Bat award exists to recognize a hitter whose power contributions may not rise to the level of "most valuable" but were nonetheless freaking huge. Schwarber's this year were enough to elevate an established Fantasy entity to borderline first-round consideration for the first time, and the MLB-leading 132 RBI didn't hurt either.
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Freddie Fleet Foot award
Simpson may not have led the majors in stolen bases, but his 44 in 109 games made him the most prolific base-stealer for the time he was on the roster. And unlike the actual major league leader in steals, Jose Caballero, Simpson is a standout in some other category, carrying over his high batting average from the minors.
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Most improved hitter
Perdomo hit three homers last year and had never hit more than six before exploding for 20 this year. His wholesale improvements took him from being a complete non-entity in Fantasy to the top shortstop in Head-to-Head points leagues and the third-best in 5x5 Rotisserie, a particularly notable accomplishment given how loaded the position is.
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Most improved pitcher
Pivetta had never delivered an ERA below 4.00 across eight major league seasons, but he had also never pitched in an environment as favorable to his fly-ball tendencies as San Diego. What sleeper hype he did get was almost tongue-in-cheek, accounting for all the times he's let us down in the past, but he turned in a top-12 performance this time.
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Biggest breakthrough
Caminero came in boasting impressive exit velocities and a top prospect pedigree, but after his underwhelming rookie showing, how much could we reasonably expect from him at age 21? I bullishly sang about him hitting 35 home runs in my "Canyonero" parody prior to the season, and he ended up beating that mark by 10.
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Biggest breakthrough, midseason edition
Williams' 3.70 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 8.8 K/9 in the first half put him on the verge of being dropped in standard 12-team leagues, but then he had a 2.18 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 10.0 K/9 in the second half. The breakthrough seemed kind of fake at first, but he found another gear in his final five starts with a 1.74 ERA backed up by a 66 percent strike rate and 14 percent swinging-strike rate, both high-end marks.
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Best comeback, hitter edition
I hesitate to call Springer's 2025 a comeback because the only other time he had an OPS as high as .959 was in 2019, a career-best year for most every hitter who was active then. The 35-year-old seemed to be on his last legs last year but ended up hitting .300 for the first time with 30-plus homers for just the third time, with his second-half numbers (a .369 batting average and 1.121 OPS) being particularly jaw-dropping.
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Best comeback, pitcher edition
With his fastball averaging its lowest velocity since 2019, deGrom managed to reach the 100-inning threshold (and well beyond) for the first time since, yes, 2019. He wasn't at his most dominant, but he was good enough to place 13th among starting pitchers in both major scoring formats, giving me more optimism about drafting him even heading into his age-38 season.
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Best comeback, midseason edition
One of the biggest busts of the first half with a .210 batting average and .551 OPS, Harris looked more like himself in the second half, batting .299 with a .845 OPS, and actually went on to have his first ever 20/20 season. A repositioning of his hands is largely to credit for his turnaround.
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Ace-up-the-sleeve award
Intended to honor a pitcher who won't be regarded as highly as he should be, this year's ace in the hole is Chase Burns, who recorded double-digit strikeouts in four of his eight starts. That's more times than Tarik Skubal did it in 2024, when he was widely regarded as the game's top pitcher, and more times than Paul Skenes has done it in his entire career.
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Biggest fakeout, hitter edition
The most buzz-worthy player of the first four months hit .272 with a .868 OPS during that time, emerging as an MVP candidate with his superlative defense and 40/40 pace, but his free-swinging ways caught up to him in the final two months, seeing him hit .188 with a .533 OPS.
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Biggest fakeout, pitcher edition
Widely regarded as one of this season's breakthrough aces in the first half with his 3.02 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 11.3 K/9, Gore went on to deliver a 6.75 ERA, 1.70 WHIP and 8.6 K/9 in the second half. It was so complete of a collapse that it's fair to wonder if he'll even be drafted among the top 50 starting pitchers next year.
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Most overshadowed fakeout
Pete Crow-Armstrong was such an obvious choice for the biggest fakeout category that I had to create a secondary one for Wood, whose tumble was even worse in some ways. After also emerging as a first round-type talent with a .278 batting average and .915 OPS in the first half, he then went on to deliver a .223 batting average and .690 OPS in the second half, his strikeout rate jumping from a survivable 28 percent to an untenable 39 percent.
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Biggest overachiever
Given his poor strikeout rate and underwhelming walk rate, Mahle's 4.35 xERA and 4.43 xFIP paint a more accurate picture of his abilities than does his 2.18 ERA. Maybe if he hadn't missed three months with shoulder fatigue, that number would have normalized, but he returned to make two starts and allowed just one earned run between them.
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Biggest underachiever
Sure, Rutschman "deserved" to hit .251 and slug .421, according to Statcast, during his second straight bad season (injury-plagued though it was), but how comforting is that, really? Those numbers would still be disappointing from a catcher who seemed like a generational talent just a couple years ago.
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Biggest weirdo
I'll never totally understand how a fly-ball pitcher with only average bat-missing ability could maintain such a low ERA at one of the most homer-friendly venues in baseball, but Abbott's xERA and FIP were at least within a run of his ERA this time around. I may just have to accept that he's a statistical oddity, particularly as his contact quality and walk rate both continue to improve.
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The one who Fantasy Footballers won't see coming
What those who tuned out in August will remember is a mercurial talent who struggled to go even five innings, and Sheehan's shift to a relief role during the playoffs will only reinforce that memory. In actuality, four of Sheehan's final six starts (excluding the one-inning tune-up just before the playoffs ) saw him go six innings or more with a 1.88 ERA, 0.73 WHIP, 12.2 K/9 and a 19 percent swinging-strike rate that would rank up there with the best ever produced by a starting pitcher over a full season.
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The one who nobody saw coming
Marsee had some interesting numbers prior to his August promotion, but he wasn't regarded as a top prospect and certainly wasn't thought to be the sort of hitter who could deliver the 13th-best Head-to-Head point-per-game average among outfielders. He was humbled some in September, but the final numbers are what they are.
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Biggest power-up
Thought to be just a slap hitter whose only Fantasy impact would come from his stolen bases, Turang improved his average exit velocity by 4 mph in 2025, putting him firmly in power hitter territory. His pull air rate is still well behind where it needs to be, but he made progress with it over the course of the year, hitting 10 of his 18 home runs in August alone.
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What's-dead-may-never-die award
I'll admit to writing off Woodruff when he came back from a significant shoulder surgery with nearly 3 mph less on his fastball -- a disastrous development for any pitcher, but particularly one whose arsenal is built on his fastball -- but that fastball ended up being as effective as ever, buoyed by a new cutter. Not even a season-ending lat strain could dampen my enthusiasm for a pitcher who averaged 11.6 K/9.
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Just-scratching-the-surface award
Rice had an impressive season that was elevated by him regaining catcher eligibility and batting .281 with a .542 slugging percentage in the second half. But Statcast would suggest there's even better to come, his .299 xBA and .581 xSLG ranking in the 96th and 97th percentile, respectively.
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Vinny Vindication
In addition to Rogers himself, this is vindication for Orioles GM Mike Elias, who paid a hefty price for the left-hander (Kyle Stowers and Connor Norby) when his stock was at its lowest. The Rogers we got in 2025, though, was the best we've ever seen, regaining some velocity on his fastball to put up even better numbers than when he was the Rookie of the Year runner-up in 2021.
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Mr. April-is-just-a-warmup
Once the obsession of every Fantasy Baseball analyst, Paquantino seemed poised to disappoint again when he had a .177 batting average and .569 OPS at the end of April, but he hit .283 with an .848 OPS thereafter, finally delivering the sort of numbers that those analysts had dreamed of. He would have also been a suitable (if perhaps too convenient) choice for Vinny Vindication.
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Oops-I-did-it-again award
Few bought into Profar's sudden turn for the studly in 2024, which seemed like a wise choice when he was hit with a PED suspension right away, but he ended up placing ninth among outfielders in Head-to-Head points per game, which was even higher than in 2024. He didn't hit the ball quite as hard and didn't deliver as high of a batting average, but overall, the gains proved to be durable.
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Fizzle reel award
Replacing the usual "sizzle reel award" is this dubious distinction, which unfortunately has to go to the two-pronged bust that was Roki Sasaki. Hyped as one of the best ever international free agent signings as well as the top prospect in the game, he was so thoroughly ineffective for the Dodgers early on that there was no urgency to bring him back when he was sidelined for four months by a shoulder impingement.
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Rebuilders delight
As a bat-first catcher with severe contact and chase issues, Goodman's only hope for a sizable role was on a rebuilding team like the Rockies, and he so thoroughly capitalized on it that he's now regarded as one of the premier talents at a rapidly improving position.
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Best accessorizing
Muncy was batting .180 with a .531 OPS through April 29, continuing his multi-year decline with what appeared to be rock bottom. But then he was fitted for glasses and hit .268 with a .969 OPS the rest of the way, giving him second life as a third base option for Fantasy.
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Mr. Funny Math
Luzardo's overall numbers are strong in their own right, but if you eliminate the two starts early this season when he was confirmed to be tipping his pitches, his ERA drops to 3.03 and his WHIP to 1.11. Those numbers, when combined with his 10.6 K/9, would make him a Fantasy ace.
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Biggest double take, pitcher edition
Maybe it's because he was injured for most of June and September, but Eovaldi's 1.73 ERA hasn't gotten the attention it deserves. Only four pitchers this century (minimum 130 innings) have delivered an ERA lower than that, and it's particularly impressive coming from Eovaldi, who hadn't had an ERA lower than 3.63 in 11 years.
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Biggest double take, hitter edition
"If only he could stay healthy" has been the familiar refrain for Buxton, but even that hypothetical didn't dare to presume he'd average 3.74 Head-to-Head points per game, good for sixth-best among outfielders in 2025. He ranked eighth among outfielders in 5x5 Rotisserie scoring.
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Mr. 2025-didn't-really-count
If there was ever any doubt that Bichette's .225 batting average and .598 OPS in 2024 were an aberration -- and judging by where he was drafted this year, there was -- it's been thoroughly refuted now. He got back to hitting over .300 with an OPS over .800, numbers that are in line with the other five years of his career.
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Mr. Look-who-finally-decided-to-show-up
Though his three separate IL stints didn't help, the fact is that Merrill was performing well short of expectations even when healthy, but his big September went a long way toward redeeming his sophomore season. Seven of his 16 home runs for the year came in his final 19 games, during which he hit .308 (24 for 78).
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Mr. Two-face
When he came out of the gate with two double digit-strikeout efforts, his fastball peaking at 101 mph, Baz seemed poised to deliver on the ace potential that was derailed for a couple years by Tommy John surgery. Another pair of dominant starts midseason renewed those same hopes, but for as high as the high points were, the low points were far more plentiful, leaving him with an ERA approaching 5.00.
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Fastest slow guy
Juan Soto made a competition of it, swiping 38 bases despite having only 13th percentile sprint speed, but Naylor takes the cake (if you'll excuse the expression) by swiping 30 bases with his 2nd percentile sprint speed. His previous high of 10 steals seemed unlikely enough.
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Clutchest eligibility (tie)
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Put simply, these players secured more favorable eligibility for 2026 in their final appearance of 2025. Jensen started at catcher, giving him just as many appearances there (10) as at DH, and a tie goes to the eligibility that the player had previously. Meanwhile, Tolle made one more appearance as a reliever than a starter, so if he finds his way into the Red Sox rotation next year, he'll have SPARP appeal in Head-to-Head points leagues.
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Hitless-in-Seattle award
Suarez was traded to the Mariners at the deadline and hit .111 at his new home, which was also his old home from 2022 and 2023. T-Mobile Park is one of those venues that's known to give hitters fits, and Suarez would seem to be one such example, batting .211 in his career there vs. .251 everywhere else. Thankfully, he'll be a free agent this offseason.
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Was-it-something-I-said award
The 21-year-old Stewart forced the Reds' hand with a September call-up and seemed like he was on the verge of becoming a fixture in their lineup, starting eight of nine games at one point and batting .310 (9 for 29) with three homers during that time. But he then started just two of their final nine games, leaving doubt as to his status for 2026.
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Mr. Thanks-for-the-memories
Once a first-round fixture and almost certainly a Hall of Famer, Goldschmidt appears to be finished as a Fantasy contributor, spending most of 2025 as a part-timer while batting .248 with a .684 OPS over the final five months. He'll hit the open market this offseason, but I wouldn't expect him to find a full-time job anywhere.
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