Needless to say, MVP Awards are not won (or lost) in the first two weeks of the season. Remember 2024? Aaron Judge didn¡¯t really get things going until May.
Yes, sensational starts can fizzle out quickly. Cold April slumps are forgotten when the weather, and the bats, heat up. But even in these wild, early days of small sample sizes, there can be signs of what¡¯s to come. Back to 2024: Bobby Witt Jr. played like a superstar right from the jump and never stopped, winding up second only to the otherworldly Judge in the the AL race.
With that in mind, let¡¯s look at 10 hitters putting their best foot forward in the 2025 MVP races. The key here is that we¡¯re not considering previous MVP Award winners, nor anyone who finished in the top five in the AL or NL a year ago. These are the players doing their best to put themselves on the MVP map this season.
1. Kyle Tucker, RF, Cubs
Tucker didn¡¯t get MVP votes last year, coming off a fifth-place finish in the 2023 AL voting, but that¡¯s only because a troublesome shin injury limited him to 78 games. He absolutely raked when healthy, and following an offseason trade to the Cubs -- ahead of his contract year, no less -- Tucker has picked up right where he left off. Tucker was relatively quiet during his team¡¯s back-to-back Tokyo Series losses to the Dodgers, but in his first 11 games back stateside he slashed .364/.491/.795 with five homers, three steals and 15 RBIs. Even better, the Cubs went 8-3 in those games. If Chicago wins its first full-season NL Central title since 2017, with Tucker right in the middle of it, he¡¯ll have the sort of case that could even challenge Shohei Ohtani.
2. Corbin Carroll, RF, D-backs
MVP hopes were high for Carroll a year ago, given that his first full season had netted him the NL Rookie of the Year Award as well as a fifth-place NL MVP finish. Instead, he never got in the race, heading into the All-Star break with a mere .635 OPS. The second half was a different story, however, and it¡¯s that version of Carroll who has shown up in the early days of 2025. In fact, the 24-year-old has been crushing the ball like never before, with elite quality-of-contact metrics to go along with his eight extra-base hits (including three homers) and .628 SLG. If the fleet-footed Carroll also gets his wheels in motion -- he hasn¡¯t attempted a steal yet -- look out.
3. Jackson Merrill, CF, Padres
Sophomore slump? Not here. Merrill would hardly be the first hot-shot rookie to stumble a bit in Year 2, but at least so far, it¡¯s like 2024 never ended. The key stats: A .378/.415/.676 slash line, 10 RBIs ¡. and a nifty, nine-year contract extension. In the first four games after inking that deal, all Merrill did was rack up three multi-hit games and a pair of home runs. As he approaches his 22nd birthday on April 19, Merrill is, once again, looking like a key ingredient on a strong postseason contender.
4. Riley Greene, LF, Tigers
Big things have been expected of Greene since the Tigers made him the fifth overall pick in the 2019 Draft. Somewhat quietly, it all started coming together in 2024. Although Greene didn¡¯t receive any MVP votes, he did make his first All-Star team while piling up 5.4 WAR (per Baseball-Reference). At age 24, it¡¯s entirely possible that Greene takes the next step in 2025. He¡¯s hitting .317 with a .634 SLG in the early going, and with Spencer Torkelson also tearing it up for the Tigers, Detroit¡¯s lineup has been far more robust than the one backing up Tarik Skubal and company on the team¡¯s shocking postseason run in 2024.
5. Alex Bregman, 3B, Red Sox
Bregman¡¯s first six games in a Boston uniform were slow, but in his next four, he went 9-for-18 (.500) with seven extra-base hits and 10 RBIs. That¡¯s the sort of firepower that made Bregman the AL MVP runner-up with the Astros in 2019. Now 31, Bregman hasn¡¯t been in the thick of the MVP conversation in a while -- his highest finish since that year was 19th in 2022. But if his dramatic jump to Boston gives his numbers a jolt and coincides with a Red Sox revival, that trend could change in a hurry.
6. Matt Chapman, 3B, Giants
The Giants have been perhaps the most pleasant surprise of this young season, winning eight of their first 10 games. Chapman is hardly the only Giant in the middle of that, and let¡¯s give a tip of the cap to the outfield of Heliot Ramos, Jung Hoo Lee and Mike Yastrzemski, each with an OPS over .850. But Chapman has been in the MVP discussion before, and the five-time Gold Glove Award winner¡¯s two-way prowess stands out. However, he¡¯ll need to avoid the May swoon that has often haunted him. Chapman has an .850 career OPS in March/April but .676 in May -- his lowest in any month.
7. Fernando Tatis Jr., RF, Padres
When Tatis finished fourth and third in the NL MVP race at ages 21 and 22 in 2020 and '21, it seemed like a trophy (or two) was only a matter of when, not if. A suspension, injuries and some inconsistency have thwarted Tatis since then, but at age 26, he is still firmly in his prime. We saw Peak Tatis last postseason, and there are signs of that superstar-caliber player again so far in 2025, with a .381 average, five steals in as many tries, and more walks than strikeouts. It wouldn¡¯t be shocking if this proves to be the year it all comes together.
8. Anthony Volpe, SS, Yankees
With the final few spots on this list, we¡¯ll turn to a more unproven class of players, ones looking to establish themselves as stars at the MLB level for the first time. Well, we¡¯ve seen brief flashes of that from Volpe before. In fact, skeptics will note that he hit .382/.477/.564 in his first 15 games of 2024 before his bat fell into a funk. It¡¯s possible that Volpe¡¯s early .268/.333/.634 line in 2025, including four homers and 12 RBIs, is simply a repeat. But maybe it¡¯s not. Whether you chalk it up to Torpedo bats or other adjustments, Volpe is hitting the ball with the sort of authority that makes this improvement more likely to stick.
9. Wilyer Abreu, RF, Red Sox
Abreu was impressive during a 2024 rookie campaign in which he won a Gold Glove Award and put up solid numbers at the plate -- he posted a .781 OPS with 15 home runs. It all added up to 3.4 bWAR. Over the first 11 games of the 2025 season, he's already produced about a third of that value thanks in large part to a torrid start offensively. He's hitting .424/.537/.788 with three doubles and three homers in the early going. While he won't continue to hit at that clip, it's a good sign that he could be a dark horse MVP candidate, especially if he helps fuel a Red Sox run to the postseason.
Another young player who could make waves in the MVP conversation is Kristian Campbell, Boston's No. 2 prospect and No. 6 overall per MLB Pipeline. Sure, a rookie has only won his league's MVP Award twice, but don't count out Campbell -- the 22-year-old has already homered twice for the Red Sox while posting a 1.143 OPS.
10. Tyler Soderstrom, 1B, Athletics
After flashing impressive power potential in a small sample size last year, Soderstrom has come out of the gates swinging for the fences in 2025. With two more home runs on Monday -- his second multihomer effort of the young season -- the first baseman is now tied with Judge for the MLB lead in that department. Only two qualifiers -- Abreu and the Guardians¡¯ Jos¨¦ Ram¨ªrez -- have a higher OPS than Soderstrom¡¯s 1.292 mark thus far.
11. Lars Nootbaar, LF, Cardinals
Injuries have limited Nootbaar in recent years, and as a result, he's never appeared in more than 117 games in a season. But the underrated outfielder has produced when in the lineup -- entering this season, he owned a career .774 OPS (115 OPS+). And given his hot start to the 2025 campaign, could he be taking things to another level? Through the first nine games of the season, he has an .877 OPS with a pair of homers for a Cardinals lineup that is off to a fast start.