What a difference one year -- and one or more players -- can make.
The seven teams below really scuffled offensively at a certain position in 2024, but now they are flying high at that same spot in 2025. Whether it's due to the performance of a newcomer or a player adapting to an expanded role, it's paid huge dividends through the first month of this season.
For each team, we'll present its 2025 wRC+ at the featured position, its increase in wRC+ from 2024, and the player(s) most responsible for the turnaround. We'll also address if this improvement is something that could persist through the summer.
All stats updated through Sunday.
Cubs catcher: Carson Kelly
2025 wRC+: 173 (+104 points)
Kelly is a Chicago native who grew up rooting for the Cubs and attending games at Wrigley Field, so it made for a nice story when the veteran backstop signed with the North Siders this offseason. Given Kelly's middling production through nine big league seasons, it could have been nothing more than a nice story. But it has been so much more.
While splitting time with Miguel Amaya behind the plate, Kelly has produced a 1.371 OPS, the highest of any player with at least 50 plate appearances. With six homers, he's already more than halfway to his total from 2023-24, when he hit 11 home runs through 417 at-bats split between three teams. He is absolutely blistering the baseball, as evidenced by his 62.2% hard-hit rate, which is more than 20 percentage points better than in any season of his career. In short, it has been quite the homecoming.
Can this continue? Uh, no. A player with a career .373 slugging percentage entering 2025 is not going to sustain an .854 slug over the next five months. But Kelly has already given Chicago more than it could have expected offensively, and he has been key to the Cubs leading the Majors in runs scored. It's worth noting that Amaya hasn't been a slouch with the bat either (.283 average, .483 slugging in 65 plate appearances). This productive timeshare is yet another reason why the Cubs may be the best team in a stacked National League.
Rays center field: Jonny DeLuca, Kameron Misner and Chandler Simpson
2025 wRC+: 181 (+99 points)
The Rays' offseason trade of Jose Siri left them with a void in center. It's one that they've had to fill with a collection of players, but all of them have done their part when in the lineup. DeLuca was first out of the gate, and he slashed .435/.480/.522 through nine games before going on the injured list due to a strained right shoulder. Misner was next up, and he has been a revelation for Tampa Bay. He's racked up 11 extra-base hits in 24 games this season and owns a 1.279 OPS in his 11 games as a center fielder.
Misner shifted over to right field when a third man joined this mix about 10 days ago: electric speedster Chandler Simpson. The club's No. 7 prospect, Simpson has a .400 average (12-for-30) and three steals in his first eight games in the bigs. This trio has lifted the Rays to the very top of the wRC+ leaderboard in center field.
Can this continue? Possibly. Tampa Bay will have to figure out how to make these pieces fit once DeLuca and fellow outfielder Jake Mangum return from the IL, likely in May. This job belongs to Simpson right now, and considering the impact he has already made at the plate, in the field and on the basepaths, he should get every chance to stick in center.
Yankees first base: Paul Goldschmidt
2025 wRC+: 152 (+76 points)
Yankees first basemen recorded a 76 wRC+ last season, the second-lowest mark at that position in MLB. Goldschmidt's 2024 campaign with the Cardinals was also a disappointment as he posted career lows in each of the triple-slash categories (.245/.302/.414). When the 37-year-old signed with New York in December, it was a marriage between a player and a team both looking for a fresh start.
So far, it has worked out swimmingly. Goldschmidt is in the midst of a rebound season, hitting .365 with a .417 on-base percentage. Each of those marks ranks among the top five in the American League. His batted-ball quality is a step down from previous years, but his ability to make contact has never been better; Goldschmidt has lowered his strikeout and whiff rates by about 7 percentage points. His strong start has been a boon for the Yankees, who lead the AL East despite a bevy of pitching injuries and with only three qualified hitters boasting at least an .800 OPS (Goldschmidt, Aaron Judge, Ben Rice).
Can this continue? There is definitely some regression coming for Goldschmidt, who has benefited from a .451 BABIP, the third-highest in the Majors. But if he keeps the strikeouts down, he's going to maintain a solid batting line. Plus, after nine consecutive full seasons with at least 20 homers, we should expect Goldschmidt's power to awaken at some point.
Red Sox second base: Kristian Campbell
2025 wRC+: 120 (+75 points)
While the drama about who would play third base for the Red Sox was a top story leading up to the regular season, the team's biggest question mark on the infield resided at second. Boston registered a 45 wRC+ at the keystone position last year. Not only was that last among all teams at second, it was the third-worst mark for any team at any position, ahead of only Marlins catchers (44) and White Sox catchers (41).
In steps the 22-year-old Campbell, who has become a star in very short order. Outside of the Red Sox's top 30 prospects entering last season, Campbell came into 2025 as MLB's No. 6 prospect overall. He won the starting job at second base with an excellent showing in Spring Training, signed an eight-year contract just a few days into his debut season and is now slashing .305/.412/.474 with a 154 wRC+, second only to St Louis' Brendan Donovan among primary second basemen.
Can this continue? On Sunday, Campbell became the first player in franchise history with two hits, three walks, three RBIs, four runs scored and a stolen base in a single game. Campbell will go through ups and downs like any rookie. But his 15.8% walk rate should help limit the duration of those dips and keep him in the thick of a crowded field for AL Rookie of the Year.
Giants center field: Jung Hoo Lee
2025 wRC+: 159 (+69 points)
Last season, it was tough to gauge what kind of player Lee would be in the Major Leagues. A two-time batting champion in the KBO, he turned in an uninspiring 83 wRC+ over his first 37 games with the Giants before a left shoulder injury suffered on May 12 required season-ending surgery. Obviously, Lee isn't feeling any ill effects, because he is hitting just about everything in sight. To wit, he has recorded at least a .300 average and a .450 slugging percentage against each of the three main pitch groups -- fastballs, breaking pitches and offspeed pitches.
A 13-point increase in Lee's launch angle sweet-spot rate -- a Statcast metric that tracks the number of times he's hit a ball with an optimal launch angle between eight and 32 degrees -- has also contributed to his 16 extra-base hits through 28 games. In 2024, he had just six XBHs in 37 contests.
Can this continue? Lee was a doubles machine in Korea, and that seems to have carried over to the big leagues as he is tied for the NL lead with 11 doubles. Considering his great bat control (13.4% whiff rate) and ability to handle whatever is thrown his way, it seems this is going to be a memorable season for Lee.
Guardians second base: Gabriel Arias and Daniel Schneemann
2025 wRC+: 146 (+60 points)
By outs above average, there wasn't a better defensive player over the past two seasons than Andrés Giménez. But offensively, he registered a .674 OPS and a 90 wRC+ over that same period. In December, the Guardians traded the three-time Gold Glover to Toronto, ostensibly sacrificing top-notch defense for a little more offense. They've gotten it out of Arias and Schneemann. The 25-year-old Arias slashed .212/.274/.350 and earned 0.1 FanGraphs WAR over his first three seasons with Cleveland. This year, he's already up to 0.7 WAR, thanks in part to a 130 wRC+ through 88 plate appearances.
Arias and Schneemann have played multiple positions thus far, but if you isolate only what they've done as second basemen, you get a .302/.368/.523 line with 11 extra-base hits across 95 PA. Meanwhile, Giménez has continued to decline at the dish as he's batting .176 with a .578 OPS in his first 28 games with the Blue Jays.
Can this continue? Arias is the player to watch here, and he's done a great job of crushing fastballs to this point (.333 average, .667 slugging in 49 PA ending on four-seamers, sinkers and cutters). However, for him to keep producing at this level, he'll need a better approach against softer offerings. He is 8-for-39 with 15 strikeouts against breaking balls and offspeed pitches.
Athletics shortstop: Jacob Wilson
2025 wRC+ 123 (+52 points)
The upstart A's came into Monday as winners of eight of their past 12 games and look like a team to be reckoned with in a very competitive AL West.
But an even bigger story emerged last week out of West Sacramento: Wilson, in his 88th plate appearance of the season, finally drew a walk. But who needs walks when you can seemingly pick up knocks at will? Wilson has recorded a hit in 23 of his first 27 games this season and sits fifth in the AL with a .324 average. He has struck out only five times in 105 at-bats and has already collected three homers in 27 games after hitting none through 28 games last year.
Can this continue? Absolutely. Looking like a Luis Arraez clone from the right side, Wilson possesses very slow bat speed and doesn't make much loud contact (27% hard-hit rate, 3% barrel rate). But of the contact he does make -- which is a lot! -- he gets the most out of it with his 41% squared-up rate. Only Arraez, at 49.6%, is better.