It's always tough -- maybe even impossible -- to predict which Spring Training performances will carry over to the regular season. But we try to do it anyway.
With domestic Opening Day less than a week away, let's try to pick out some of the players whose stellar springs will translate to stellar 2025 seasons.
Here are 15 Spring Training stat lines that matter for 2025. (Stats are entering the weekend.)
Juan Soto, RF, Mets
.333 BA / .425 OBP / .758 SLG, 1.183 OPS, 4 HR
Soto in a Mets uniform looks like Soto in any other uniform: One of the best hitters, maybe the best, in the world. His first Spring Training after landing his historic 15-year, $765 million contract is business as usual. Soto has been an on-base machine and is crushing home runs to every part of the field. He's as good as advertised.
Mike Trout, RF, Angels
.462 OBP, .962 OPS, 2 HR, 10 BB
Trout's Spring Training stat line should be your yearly reminder that, when Mike Trout is healthy, Mike Trout is still among MLB's elite. He's getting on base nearly half the time, he's walking as often as he's striking out, and if you watch his two home runs, you see he still has that classic Trout swing path that's one of the most dangerous in baseball.
Corbin Carroll, OF, D-backs
.394 BA / .848 SLG, 1.307 OPS, 4 HR, 2 SB
Carroll slumped through the first half of last season, but after making some adjustments to his swing, he took off down the stretch. That switch looks like it's still flipped. Carroll has been ripping the ball, with four homers and a 94 mph average exit velocity this spring, and once again looks like the power-speed star that was an MVP contender as a rookie in 2023.
Adley Rutschman, C, Orioles
.361 BA / .452 OBP / .611 SLG, 1.063 OPS, 3 HR
Rutschman didn't hit at all down the stretch last year -- or in the postseason. But whatever was plaguing Baltimore's star catcher, he seems to have fixed it. Rutschman has spent the spring rapping hits against pitchers like Paul Skenes, and he's been spraying hits to all fields -- over half his hits, and two of his three homers, are to the opposite field. The "real Adley Rutschman" is back -- and the real Adley Rutschman is arguably the best all-around catcher in the Majors.
Bo Bichette, SS, Blue Jays
.400 BA / .733 SLG, 1.173 OPS, 4 HR
After leading the American League in hits over the previous three seasons, Bichette had a shockingly bad (and injury-plagued) season in 2024. But the old Bichette looks like he's back. The Blue Jays' shortstop has been smoking the ball all spring, with a 93.7 average exit velocity and a 57% hard-hit rate on 35 tracked batted balls. Those are numbers the 2021-23 Bichette would put up. The bounceback is coming.
Cody Bellinger, CF, Yankees
.465 BA / .511 OBP / .791 SLG, 1.302 OPS, 3 HR
If the Yankees are going to make up for the loss of Juan Soto, Bellinger's going to have to lead the way. What he's doing in Spring Training is a good start. His stats are backed up by a 93.1 mph average exit velocity coupled with a swing-and-miss rate under 20% and a strikeout rate under 13%. Plus, his three home runs have all been pulled to right field, just like the vast majority of his homers in 2024. He's going to love the Yankee Stadium short porch.
Wyatt Langford, LF, Rangers
.478 BA / .538 OBP / .739 SLG, 1.277 OPS, 1 HR
Last spring, Langford slugged his way onto the Rangers' Opening Day roster as a top prospect. This spring, he's raking again, and it should give confidence he's due for a sophomore leap -- especially coming on the heels of the monster final month of his rookie season, when Langford had eight home runs and seven stolen bases with a .996 OPS. Right now in the Cactus League, Langford has a 96.3 mph average exit velocity and a max exit velocity of 113.2 mph -- well harder than any ball he hit in his rookie season, when his max was 111.9 mph.
Jackson Chourio, LF, Brewers
.475 BA / .512 OBP / .675 SLG, 1.187 OPS, 6 SB
After his 20-20 rookie season at age 20, Chourio looks like he's poised for even bigger and better things in 2025. The Brewers' 21-year-old phenom hasn't played a ton in Statcast-equipped ballparks this spring, but of his 10 tracked batted balls, seven have been hard-hit and six have been hit over 100 mph.
James Wood, LF, Nationals
.316 BA / .737 SLG, 1.132 OPS, 4 HR
The 22-year-old, 6-foot-7 lefty slugger showed flashes of his prodigious power as a rookie in 2024, and he's only been building on that in Spring Training 2025. Wood has knocked four home runs, all four going to the opposite side of the field, including one 110.8 mph, 16-degree rocket line drive. That lines up with what we saw from him last year, when Wood hit seven of his nine homers to left or left-center.
Garrett Crochet, LHP, Red Sox
4 starts, 0.87 ERA, 21 K in 10 1/3 IP (18.3 K/9)
Crochet's dominant spring in 2024 set the stage for him to become the surprise Opening Day starter for the White Sox, which then carried over to a dominant regular season. Now, Crochet is the Red Sox's new ace, and their Opening Day starter бн and the stage should be set for a dominant 2025, too. Crochet has been dominating hitters at Spring Training, inducing a 37% swing-and-miss rate and 49% strikeout rate, while his fastball is sitting at 97 mph, which should be one of the top heaters among lefty starters, just like last year.
Sandy Alcantara, RHP, Marlins
5 starts, 0.00 ERA, 10 K, 0.97 WHIP
Alcantara is ready to reclaim his role as Marlins ace as he returns from Tommy John surgery, and he's in his 2022 Cy Young form in the Grapefruit League. Alcantara is one of only four pitchers this spring with at least 10 innings pitched and zero earned runs allowed, and his stuff looks electric. Alcantara's four-seamer is averaging over 98 mph and has reached triple digits twice (including for a K of Sean Murphy). His sinker is averaging just under 98 mph with 19 inches of arm-side run. His changeup is averaging 91 mph with 18 inches of run and a 73% whiff rate. And his slider is averaging just under 90 mph with a 40% whiff rate.
Spencer Schwellenbach, RHP, Braves
5 games (4 starts), 2.41 ERA, 26 K to 2 BB in 18 2/3 IP (12.5 K/9, 13 K:BB)
Schwellenbach was overshadowed among rookie pitchers thanks to Paul Skenes and Shota Imanaga, but he was really good for the Braves, with a 3.35 ERA and 127 strikeouts in 21 starts. The 24-year-old continues to look great in Spring Training, leading all pitchers with 26 strikeouts -- including 10 in one game against the Yankees -- while issuing only two walks. Schwellenbach has a diverse arsenal, throwing a four-seam fastball, sinker, cutter, slider, curveball and splitter, and he's used that to generate a 36% swing-and-miss rate this spring.
Robbie Ray, LHP, Giants
4 starts, 1.26 ERA, 19 K with 0 BB in 14 1/3 IP (11.9 K/9)
Ray is a former Cy Young Award winner with an intriguing new toy: Tarik Skubal's changeup. Ray got the reigning AL Cy Young winner to teach him his changeup grip this offseason, and Skubal's changeup is one of the best pitches in baseball. Now Ray is throwing it, and he's been dominant in Spring Training (although sadly we don't have any Statcast data on the pitch yet because he hasn't pitched in any parks with tracking). Ray has racked up 19 strikeouts this spring, and he hasn't walked a single batter, giving him the most K's for any pitcher with no walks allowed. For Ray, whose high strikeout totals have often come with high walk totals, that's huge.
Clay Holmes, RHP, Mets
5 starts, 1.17 ERA, 17 K in 15 1/3 IP (10.0 K/9)
Holmes is trying to follow the same trajectory Crochet did -- from reliever to Opening Day starter to dominant starter. He's looked the part in Spring Training for the Mets, with an ERA narrowly above 1.00. Holmes has added the trendy new "kick change" to his pitch arsenal, too, giving him the extra pitch he needs to compete as a starter. Holmes always had nasty stuff in the bullpen with the Yankees, and now he's throwing an 89 mph changeup that's inducing a swing-and-miss rate over 50%. He sure looks like he can be an effective starting pitcher.
Jack Leiter, RHP, Rangers
5 games (2 starts), 3.07 ERA, 17 K in 14 2/3 IP (10.4 K/9) бн but 9 BB
What matters more -- the strikeouts Leiter is racking up бн or the walks he's handing out? He could boom or bust in 2025, but let's make a bet on the 24-year-old finally harnessing his stuff, which has looked better than ever this spring. Leiter's rising fastball has averaged over 98 mph (almost two mph harder than it was in his big league debut in 2024) and topped out at 99.9 mph -- faster than any pitch he's thrown in the Majors. His slider velo is also up two ticks to 89 mph, with a 55% whiff rate this spring. And Leiter has also added a "kick change" changeup, which is averaging over 92 mph and has gotten 7 K's in 14 plate appearances. The 2021 No. 2 overall Draft pick certainly has the weapons he needs for a breakout season, if he can command them.