We’re about 40% through the MLB season, so it’s a good time to examine the list of Yahoo Fantasy Baseball MVPs. This is a data-driven group, the players who show up the most on the Top 500 Yahoo Public League teams. If you’re dominating your pool this year, it’s likely some of these players are on your roster.
Although the top two MVPs are offensive players, I found it interesting that 12 of the top 15 names are pitchers. We know that pitching is much more variable than hitting year-over-year, but if you find the right answers on the mound, your winning odds increase significantly.
I’ll write up the top 12 guys and offer some quick hitters after that.
C Cal Raleigh, Mariners
Anyone who drafted Raleigh would have been thrilled with a repeat of his dynamite 2024 season, but he’s taken it up a notch this time around. A modest bump in walk and strikeout rate will always help, and Raleigh isn’t spooked by Seattle’s roomy home park — his homers have been evenly split. Aaron Judge would be the unanimous A.L. MVP if voting happened today, but Raleigh would deserve to be second. Raleigh’s bat is so important, the Mariners slide him to DH on days when he doesn’t catch.
OF Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs
Last year PCA had the looks of a Kevin Kiermaier type — an outstanding defensive outfielder who would do just enough on offense not to crush you. But you never know when young players might improve, and PCA looks like the most improved offensive player in baseball this year. He’s still producing despite a hacker’s approach — his strikeout, walk and chase rates are all below code — but he’s doing damage when he gets his pitch, bumping his hard-hit and pull rates. PCA is going to haunt the New York Mets for a while — he was the main return when New York traded for a Javier Báez rental (47 games) in 2021.
SP Joe Ryan, Twins
Ryan is one of my favorite pitchers to watch, always around the plate and especially consistent. He also illustrates that fly-ball pitchers can be as dominant as ground-ball pitchers — it’s merely important that pitchers control their outcomes, but it doesn’t matter if that’s through the ground (fewer home runs, obviously) or through the air (better WHIPs arrive this way). Ryan is also an artist more than a scientist, getting things done with a modest 93.2 mph fastball.
SP Kris Bubic, Royals
The Royals need to win low-scoring games to survive — they’re 27th in runs scored but fifth in ERA (and fourth in starting pitcher ERA). It’s hard to imagine Bubic was pitching for his rotation spot in March, but that was the story. Chalk up another successful Tommy John surgery — Bubic had the procedure in April of 2023 and he’s back to full throttle now, using an outstanding change to neutralize right-handed batters. It’s impossible to watch Bubic’s delivery and not think of Clayton Kershaw.
SP Robbie Ray, Giants
Ray had Tommy John surgery about a week after Bubic in 2023 and the comeback has been just as inspiring; Ray leads the majors in wins and is top 10 in strikeouts with 87. His mistakes are minimized in San Francisco’s expansive home park (2.00 ERA, 1.09 WHIP), not that he’s been bad on the road (3.06/1.05). Here’s another good case of how your middle- and late-round picks need to be executed with upside in mind.
OF Aaron Judge, Yankees
Judge entered the season with two MVPs in the bank and a ton of bold ink on his Baseball Reference page, so it’s frightening to imagine that this might actually be his best season. His batted-ball metrics remain a dream, and while he’s never going to be the contact king, he’s improved his strikeout rate to league average. He’s also probably enjoying the shift back to right field, after covering center field last year with Juan Soto in right.
SP Garrett Crochet, Red Sox
Boston trades a handful of prospects to Chicago in exchange for a star left-handed pitcher in his prime — yeah, we’ve seen this movie before. Recall that the Red Sox acquired Chris Sale before the 2017 season. Sale eventually broke down in the second half of his Boston career, but he was outstanding in the first two seasons, finishing second and fourth in the Cy Young voting those years. Crochet has a higher WHIP at home but no ERA bias otherwise; his power stuff plays in any ballpark. Perhaps his Boston run will have more staying power than Sale’s did, given that Crochet was acquired into his age-26 season (Sale was 28).
SP Max Fried, Yankees
The Regression Police continue to track Fried, noting that his 1.78 ERA doesn’t jibe with his 3.40 expected ERA. That said, Fried has made some of that luck by trimming his walk rate and keeping his ground-ball clip above league average. An improved sinker has sparked his excellent A.L. debut, but Fried is never going to be dominant in the strikeout column.
RP Andrés Muñoz, Mariners ; RP Josh Hader, Astros
You sleep a lot better when you draft a healthy and productive closer, allowing you to handle the saves rat race from a position of leverage.
SP Carlos Rodón, Yankees
Has anyone ever drafted a fantasy staff exclusively of left-handed starters? Maybe this was a year to do it, with Bubic, Ray, Crochet, Fried and Rodon all showing up on this list. The Yankees need to be mindful of Rodon’s workload in the second half — he’s never made it past 178 innings in any season, but is currently on pace for 213 innings — and obviously, the Yankees will be playing in October.
SP Nick Pivetta, Padres
It’s the opposite of the Xander Bogaerts case — Pivetta traded the rigors of Fenway Park for the mistake-muting backdrop of Petco Park, and so far, so good. Of course, we have to be mindful that Pivetta has a 2.40 ERA at home and a 4.94 ERA on the road.
As for players on the list but not in the top 12:
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Hunter Brown was a breakout player last year, figuring things out in the middle of May. This year has merely been an extension of something we already saw.
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Teoscar Hernández gets a little lost in the shuffle in Los Angeles given all the star power with the Dodgers, but he’s going to knock in 100 runs again.
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Zach Neto was a rare case of March injury optimism being a good thing; he’s been excellent since his return.
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Given the immense power of James Wood, it feels unfair that he seems like he’s going to steal 20 bases, too.
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I was shocked MacKenzie Gore wasn’t on this list, but this data collection isn’t a perfect reflection of the season.
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Pete Alonso bet on himself with a pillow contract and has been a god in the middle of the Mets lineup.
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Hunter Goodman is one of the few reasons to watch a Colorado game in 2025.
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Byron Buxton might sail past 100 games for just the third time ever. He’s also interested in stealing bases again, after putting that task on the back burner for a few seasons.
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Oneil Cruz showed us in the second half last year that he could steal a base anytime he wanted (15-for-15), and this year he’s been more proactive with the assignment. The Pirates aren’t going anywhere, but at least they have Cruz, Paul Skenes and that wonderful home ballpark.