Even the best of the best sometimes need a moment or two to settle in at the beginning of a new season. The eight hitters below are all household names, either among their own team's fan base or across the country, but none of them performed like stars in the early going.
But the memories of their struggles are fading by the day. As we've surpassed the season's quarter pole, this group of potent bats has finally found its stride.
All stats updated through Friday unless noted otherwise.
Juan Soto, Mets
Soto is under contract with the Mets for 15 years or, put another way, roughly 90 regular-season months. Month No. 1 in Queens wasn't spectacular, although most hitters would love to post a .368 on-base percentage and a 116 wRC+ and call it a "slump." But that's not what we've come to expect from one of the most talented hitters the game has seen, someone who recorded a 158 wRC+ over his first seven MLB seasons.
Everyone knew it was just a matter of time until Soto got locked in at the plate, and that time seemingly began when he entered month No. 2 with the Mets. Since May 1 -- the day he hit his first two Citi Field home runs -- Soto has a 192 wRC+, a .426 OBP and a .638 slugging percentage. His expected slugging percentage is 1.041, second-best among all hitters with at least 40 plate appearances this month.
Rafael Devers, Red Sox
The early spring weather in Boston can be downright frigid. But it wasn't as cold as Devers' bat to begin the year. Following his much-discussed move from third base to designated hitter, he opened the season in an 0-for-21 drought with 15 strikeouts. He showed some signs of life in early April, but that short burst gave way to another lengthy swoon, and Devers was left with a .194/.331/.327 slash line and two home runs through his first 27 games.
In his 28th game, Devers homered in Game 1 of a doubleheader in Cleveland. He then went deep the next day and again two days later. Over his previous 19 contests, Devers has slashed .378/.477/.649 and cut his strikeout and whiff rates by about 10 percentage points each. He's dealt with more talk about where he'll play on the diamond, but as manager Alex Cora said after Devers' 4-for-4 day against the Royals on May 10, the face of the Red Sox franchise "knows how to cancel the noise."
Riley Greene, Tigers
As Greene goes, so go the Tigers. MLB Network insider Jon Paul Morosi pointed out Saturday morning that the Tigers are 16-3 when Greene scores a run this season. Now, Detroit was still successful while Greene scuffled to a .217 average, a .624 OPS and a 33.7 strikeout rate from the season's outset. But his hot streak over the past three-plus weeks has helped the Tigers take their game to another level.
Greene's 218 wRC+ since April 23 trails only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. It's no coincidence that the Tigers went 15-6 during that stretch and now hold baseball's best record, even after Saturday's loss to Toronto, at 30-16. This month, Greene has already won American League Player of the Week honors, enjoyed a two-homer inning against the Angels and has seen his K rate dip to 19.3%. Maybe these are the early stages of his AL MVP campaign.
Gunnar Henderson, Orioles
From the team that may be MLB's most surprising thus far to the one that is its most disappointing. After 192 wins and two playoff appearances over the past two seasons, the Orioles are in the AL East basement and let go of manager Brandon Hyde on Saturday. Baltimore's problems are myriad. Not having Henderson around for the start of the season due to an intercostal strain and then seeing him record a .203 average and a .609 OPS over his first 18 games didn't help.
But over the previous few weeks, Henderson has looked more like the player who ranked fifth in FanGraphs WAR (8.0) and was tied as the 12th-most valuable hitter by run value last year. Four of his six homers have come in his past 18 games, during which he slashed .315/.359/.562. Few players hit the ball harder than the star shortstop. If he can start lifting pitches a little bit more -- his 50% ground-ball rate is a career high -- Henderson has the talent to carry this offense for an extended period.
Jeremy Peña, Astros
Peña seemed destined for stardom once he was named ALCS and World Series MVP as a rookie in 2022. Over the next two seasons, however, the shortstop was a slightly below average offensive player (98 wRC+), and he was at 100 wRC+ with a .700 OPS through 26 games this year. Then teammate Jose Altuve had a request for manager Joe Espada on April 28. He asked to be dropped to second in Houston's order and for Peña to be elevated to the leadoff spot.
The 27-year-old Peña has fit in perfectly atop the lineup. He's batting .375 with a .958 OPS since Altuve's ask. His wRC+ is up to 133. And don't you dare throw him a four-seam fastball. Peña's slugging percentage against four-seamers has soared from .397 last year to .825. That ranks fourth-best among hitters with at least 40 plate appearances ending on that pitch.
Dansby Swanson, Cubs
Dansby Swanson, home run hitter? Putting significantly more balls into the air instead of on the ground, the Cubs' shortstop cranked his 10th homer on Saturday. That's well more than half of his 2024 total (16) and more than one-third of his career-best 27 from 2021. That power was on display at times early on as he bopped four homers in his first 29 games this year. The problem was, that's about all Swanson had to hang his hat on at the plate; he sported a .577 OPS and a 60 wRC+ entering April 29.
From that point, Swanson registered a 1.135 OPS and a 212 wRC+ through 16 games entering Saturday. Swanson's .456 slugging percentage on the year would be a personal best over a non-shortened season, and considering that his hard-hit rate (48.0%), barrel rate (11.4%) and expected slugging percentage (.493) are at or above his career highs, this doesn't look like a fluke.
Heliot Ramos, Giants
Ramos enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2024 and appeared determined to pick up right where he left off. But after a strong opening week that included six extra-base hits and eight RBIs through his first seven games, Ramos hit the skids. Twenty games later, his slash line sat at a dreary .222/.280/.370 entering April 26.
But the 25-year-old has been hammering baseballs over his past 17 games, highlighted by an 18.4% barrel rate. Ramos owns a .690 slugging percentage during that period, and his .414 batting average is bested by only two qualified players: Judge and Freddie Freeman, who have a .423 mark. San Francisco will need Ramos to keep contributing at a high level if they want to hang tough in the daunting NL West.
Willson Contreras, Cardinals
The Cardinals and Contreras both dug themselves into and out of an early-season hole. The club floundered to a 14-17 record in April but has flipped the switch in May, winning 12 of 15 games through Saturday. St. Louis ripped off a nine-game win streak in the middle of that run, and Contreras was a big part of that success.
The All-Star catcher had 10 strikeouts and no hits through his first 22 at-bats this year. He began to turn things around in mid-April but didn't really bust out until the final day of the month, when he belted a long three-run shot in Game 2 of a doubleheader vs. the Reds. Including that performance, Contreras has hit four homers, batted .365 and raised his OPS by 167 points (.603 to .770) in a 15-game span. Contreras' hard-hit rate prior to April 30 was 39.2%. It's 62.5% since.