9 Baseball Analysts, 9 MLB Breakout Candidates for 2025

I gathered some of the brightest minds in the fantasy baseball world and figured out who their favorite breakout players are for 2025

First off I’d like to give a big thank you to everyone who helped me put this article together. I’ve been blessed enough to meet some pretty big names in both the baseball and fantasy baseball space and for them to agree to help me out means a lot.

Right now, as we approach the middle of January, fantasy baseball content is starting to really heat up. Many sites and creators are releasing their rankings & draft help to better prepare you for your upcoming drafts. With that comes potential breakout targets. We all have those guys, once our rankings are done, that we look at and go “You know what, there’s much more value there than I expected”. The guys who may not fall into the category of top end talent right now, but have the ceiling to be in that class by the time the season is done. Those are the guys who help you “win” your draft and dominate your league.

So with that in mind, I’ve got breakdowns from nine different analysts and then myself. What makes this even more interesting is the fact that none of these guys knew who the other wrote about beforehand, and not one of them doubled up on players. So you get 9 unique players we all believe can be potential breakouts for the 2025 MLB season.

Quick heads up: each hyperlink next to an analyst’s name goes directly to their specific portion of whatever website they work for, not just the site in general. Make sure you check out all of their amazing work and follow them on whatever platform you’re also on!

Foolish Baseball | YouTube & Twitter

Jung Hoo Lee - OF / SFG

Only Luis Arraez and Steven Kwan had a higher contact rate than Lee in 2024. With that foundation, Jung Hoo Lee, the "Grandson of the Wind," only needs a little bit of power to produce. And his above-average Hard Hit% shows promise in that area. Expect a big 2025 from the Korean centerfielder after a shoulder injury ended his rookie year prematurely.

Thomas Nestico |

TJStats

/ Twitter

David Festa - SP / MIN

David Festa has been on my radar since the start of the 2024 season where his mid 90s fastball and hard gyro slider was lighting up my tjStuff+ model. He has always had the strikeout stuff, and throughout last season he exhibited a better feel for his changeup that forced me to double down on my optimism.

He got off to a rough start in his initial MLB stint but looked the part of a mid- rotation starter in the 2nd half with a strong 3.81 ERA and 3.15 FIP in 54.1 IP while racking up a ton of strikeouts. He isn’t projected to be in their rotation according to RosterResource, but he is going to force his way in sooner rather than later. The Twins pitching development is on a hot streak and Festa seems like another win.

Frank Stampfl | CBS Fantasy Sports/ Fantasy Baseball Today Pod/ Twitter

Spencer Schwellenbach - SP / ATL

I expect Spencer Schwellenbach to be a very popular breakout candidate this season and for good reason. He uses immaculate control with a six-pitch mix to keep opposing hitters off balance and generate above-average whiffs. Among starting pitchers with at least 120 innings pitched, his 20.8% K-BB rate ranked 16th while his 13.5% swinging strike rate ranked 12th. Draft Schwellenbach as your SP3 but expect SP2 production with an outside chance at SP1 numbers.

Eric Cross | FTN Fantasy / Rotoballer/ The Toolshed Podcast

Wilyer Abreu - OF / BOS

Whether it's with the Red Sox or elsewhere, Wilyer Abreu should get regular playing time in 2025 and I believe a solid breakout season is in store. In 2024, Abreu slashed .253/.322/.459 with 15 home runs and eight steals in 447 plate appearances and was on a 650 plate appearance pace of 86/22/85/12. Abreu was able to provide impressive quality of contact metrics in 2024 with an 11.1% barrel rate, 91.6 mph AVG EV, and 50.5% hard-hit rate, but was below average in both zone and overall contact. While he's probably more of a .250-.260 hitter, that could come with 25 home runs, double-digit steals, and a solid amount of runs and RBI.

Vlad Sedler | FTN Fantasy / Twitter

Jasson Dominguez - OF / NYY

There is an opportunity to earn substantial fantasy profit on New York Yankees rookie outfielder Jasson Dominguez in 2025. The 21-year-old has been drafted in the 140-170 overall range in early NFBC drafts. Though he must compete for the everyday CF job in camp, there is a high likelihood of him earning the gig and running with it.

Dominguez likely won't bat in the top half of the Yankees' batting order, but he can easily contribute across all five standard roto categories in the context of this elite offense with 550-plus plate appearances. FTN VDP currently projects Dominguez for a 20/20+ (HR/SB) and 70/70+ (R/RBI) season which equates to a top-30 outfielder and a reasonable profit at his current cost.

Kev Mahserejian | Twitter

Colt Keith - 3B | 2B / DET

Colt Keith is set up for a strong sophomore season in 2025. He is a young, talented bat who had a modest rookie year. 13 HR, 54 runs, and 61 RBI while slashing .260/.309/.380 does not “wow” but Keith was only 22-years old and produced very well relative to age in the minors. Keith’s wRC+ between high-A and double-A at 20 and 21-years old was over 150. Playing in a Tigers’ offense which is improving with upside, Keith could post a very good fantasy season this year.

Beck |

The Dynasty Dugout

Spencer Horwitz - 2B | 1B / PIT

Horwitz already enjoyed a half-season of success in Toronto, posting a 125 OPS+ over 97 games. It was only a half-season sample because the Jays avoided rolling him out against lefties -- and the success wasn't really in Toronto. He was significantly better on the road, and he'll play very sparingly in Canada after being re-routed to Pittsburgh via Cleveland.

Horwitz may always be a long-side platoon bat but it's still reasonable to project him for 500 plate appearances, and given he's the 29th first baseman off the board in NFBC drafts since December 1st, there's a to like. Every part of his offensive profile improved year-over-year: his average exit velocity jumped a mile per hour (as did his EV90 at Triple-A), he made more contact in the zone, and he cut his whiff rate by almost 10 percent.

This isn't to say he's going to break out as a top-10 first baseman for redraft or dynasty. He'll have very little competition for playing time and he's been a good hitter for quite some time. He's still improving. That's a lot of positive inertia.

Dalton Feely |

Jomboy Media

/ Twitter

Justin Martinez - RP / ARI

My breakout player for the 2025 fantasy baseball season is Dbacks RP Justin Martinez. I could go with a bat or a starting arm but wanted to give some love to one of the best young relievers in baseball.

The biggest thing that must happen for Martinez to breakout in 2025 is for him to earn the closer role. Arizona will have a difficult choice between he & LHP A.J. Puk for the teams 9th inning man. Martinez got his first full taste of the majors last year, throwing 72.2 IP which was most among Dbacks RPs.

Martinez ranks in the 90th+ percentile in fastball velocity (100.3, 100th), Barrel % (2.8%, 99th), groundball% (60.3%, 97th), whiff% (34.5%, 96th), hard hit% (31.8%, 94th) + K% is (29.5%, 89th). Martinez's current ADP is 294. If he becomes the Dbacks closer he will blow past that slot value and be the steal of drafts (in leagues that value saves).

Blake Meyer (Me!) | Twitter

Iván Herrera - C / STL

With Paul Goldschmidt leaving, it feels likely that Willson Contreras moves to first base full time. With that, we should then see Herrera make the move to (hopefully) full time catcher.

He has big power (105.3 MPH 90EV), makes good contact on pitches he should hit (85.1% zone contact), and had a 124 OPS+ in his 72 big league games in 2024. Steamer has him projected for just shy of 400 AB in 2025, should he find a way to push closer to 450-500 he may very well have top 12 position upside.