The top player at every position entering 2025

It’s an exercise that generates fierce debates and often results in agreements to disagree. But that’s what makes determining the best players at each position in baseball so great. As has been its annual custom the past several years, MLB Network has ranked the Top 10 Players Right Now at each position on the diamond heading into the 2025 season.

The Shredder -- using rankings based on past player performance, a number of offensive and defensive metrics, both advanced data and traditional numbers, and analysis by the MLB Network research team -- has spoken. For a look at the full top 10 list for each position, click here. But now, let's dig into the top player in each category.

Starting Pitcher: Zack Wheeler, Phillies

With names like Tarik Skubal and Chris Sale -- the reigning Cy Young Award winners -- as well as other prominent hurlers out there, seeing Wheeler atop The Shredder’s list might raise some eyebrows. But consider that the veteran right-hander posted a comparable ERA (2.57) and expected ERA (2.80) to Skubal (2.39, 2.72) and Sale (2.38, 2.80) while throwing more innings last year -- Wheeler threw 200 innings, whereas Skubal threw 192 and Sale threw 177 2/3.

Add to that Wheeler’s quiet but consistent excellence -- over the past four years (minimum 450 innings), he’s first in fWAR (22.7), fourth in ERA (2.94), first in FIP (2.93), third in innings pitched (758 1/3) and fourth in strikeouts (846) -- and you can see why he’s considered the best starting pitcher right now.

Catcher: William Contreras, Brewers

Contreras was a major reason the Brewers were able to surprise the baseball world by cruising to a National League Central title after trading away ace Corbin Burnes and losing fellow right-hander Brandon Woodruff to injury. In his age-26 campaign, the Milwaukee backstop finished fifth in NL MVP voting thanks to a .281/.365/.466 slash line with 23 home runs and 5.4 fWAR.

At the plate, Contreras ranked in the 90th percentile or above in expected weighted on-base average (.358, 90th), average exit velocity (92.8 mph, 94th), hard-hit rate (49.5%, 91st) and walk rate (11.5%, 90th). It all earned him a No. 1 ranking on The Shredder’s list of catchers, dethroning the Orioles’ Adley Rutschman, who came in second.

First base: Freddie Freeman, Dodgers

By most metrics, Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was the best first baseman in the game in 2024, particularly at the plate. The year before that, Matt Olson set the Braves’ single-season record by smashing 54 homers. But Freeman has been the most consistent over the past several seasons -- while his ’24 campaign perhaps wasn’t up to his lofty standards amid family medical challenges and his own injuries, “Steady Freddie” has easily been the most productive first baseman in the game since 2021, the year after he won the NL MVP Award.

Over that span, Freeman hit .311/.397/.516 and posted a 23.5 fWAR, six wins above the next first baseman (Olson). And he was clutch in helping the Dodgers win the World Series last fall, hitting one of the most memorable home runs in postseason history.

Second base: Ketel Marte, D-backs

For many years one of the most underrated players in the game, Marte is beginning to receive his due as an elite second baseman. There appears to be a changing of the guard taking place at the keystone position, with Astros star Jose Altuve reaching his mid-30s and Marte rapidly rising. Last season, Marte turned in a career campaign in which he posted a .932 OPS and launched a career-best 36 homers to finish third in NL MVP balloting. Over the past two seasons, Marte has the highest fWAR (10.6) of any full-time second baseman in MLB.

Shortstop: Gunnar Henderson, Orioles

Many might be surprised that Bobby Witt Jr.’s name isn’t at the top of The Shredder’s list for shortstops (or, for that matter, Francisco Lindor or others). After all, the Royals’ superstar shortstop is coming off a season for which he finished runner-up to Aaron Judge in AL MVP voting and won the AL batting crown.

But Henderson has a strong case of his own as the game’s premier shortstop -- he finished fourth in AL MVP voting last year after posting an .893 OPS with 37 homers and 21 steals for Baltimore to follow up his 2023 AL Rookie of the Year campaign. His 9.1 bWAR in ’24 made him the fifth player this century to post a bWAR of 9.0 or higher in his age-23 season or younger.

Third base: José Ramírez, Guardians

After ceding the top spot to Manny Machado and Austin Riley in 2023 and ’24, respectively, Ramírez reclaims it this year following another stellar season at the hot corner. Long underrated, he has finally found his way into the wider baseball consciousness, and in 2024, he came up just one double and one homer shy of becoming the second player in MLB history to produce 40 doubles, 40 homers and 40 steals in the same season (Alfonso Soriano, 2006). Nevertheless, J-Ram turned in yet another tremendous campaign, posting an .872 OPS and driving in 118 runs, finishing among the top five in AL MVP voting for the fifth time in his career.

Left field: Yordan Alvarez, Astros

For the second straight year, Alvarez finds himself perched atop The Shredder’s list, and for good reason. In a career-high 147 games, the hulking slugger smashed 35 home runs with a .959 OPS for Houston, picking up his third straight All-Star selection along the way and his second top-10 finish in AL MVP balloting in three years.

Alvarez’s quality of contact metrics were off the charts -- almost literally. He finished in the 95th percentile or higher among qualified batters in expected batting average (.303, 97th), expected slugging percentage (.595, 99th), expected weighted on-base average (.411, 99th), average exit velocity (93.1 mph, 95th) and average bat speed (76.6 mph, 97th).

Center field: Julio Rodríguez, Mariners

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that Rodríguez just turned 24. He’s already established himself as one of baseball's elite all-around players, and he makes his debut as the No. 1 center fielder in the game right now, according to The Shredder. Although he was limited to 143 games by injury last season, J-Rod hit at least 20 homers and stole at least 20 bases for the third consecutive year while continuing to play strong defense in center.

Rodríguez ranked among the top 15% of qualified players in xBA (.275, 87th), average exit velocity (91.7, 87th), hard-hit rate (48.4%, 89th), average bat speed (76.3 mph, 96th), Outs Above Average (7, 92nd), average arm strength (91 mph, 90th) and average Sprint Speed (29.6 feet/second, 96th).

Right field: Aaron Judge, Yankees

Who else? And that’s saying a lot considering the competition in right field, which includes such luminaries as Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Kyle Tucker. Judge was No. 1 in The Shredder’s center-field rankings last year, but now that he's moving back to right in 2025, he paces the field there heading into the new season. The reigning AL MVP, who set an AL single-season record with 62 home runs in 2022, had an even better season by several metrics last year -- he smashed 58 homers while posting a higher batting average (.322), on-base percentage (.458), slugging percentage (.701, making him the first player to slug over .700 in a season since 2004) and bWAR (10.8). Judge remains the most feared home run hitter in the game.

Relief pitcher: Devin Williams, Yankees

For the second consecutive year, Williams enters the season as The Shredder’s No. 1 reliever, only this time he’ll be wearing Yankees pinstripes after spending the first six seasons of his career with the Brewers. The 30-year-old right-hander just keeps getting better -- and he was very good to begin with. Although he missed most of last season due to injury, in 22 late-season appearances, he posted a 1.25 ERA and saved 14 games for Milwaukee, striking out 43.2% of opposing batters thanks in large part to his devastating “airbender” changeup. Overall, Williams owns a career 1.83 ERA along with the 2020 NL Rookie of the Year Award and two All-Star selections.