The MLB regular season is almost over, and a lot has happened since the season started back in March. From players exceeding expectations, teams disappointing their fanbase and a wide-open postseason coming soon, a lot can happen over the course of a 162-game season. Let’s rewind through the season and look at all the different moments that fans will remember for years to come.
Shohei Ohtani starts another 50/50 club: When the Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani to a 700 million dollar contract two years ago, they knew that he would not pitch for the first season of his career in white and blue. The two-way superstar had surgery on his elbow during the 2023 season and wouldn’t be able to pitch for a significant amount of time. While he was sidelined from pitching, he proceeded to become the first player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases, creating the 50/50 club, and winning his 3rd MVP of his career. This season, after being off the mound for the first couple of months, he has been eased back into pitching and has started another 50/50 club. This season, Ohtani has 50+ home runs as a hitter and 50+ strikeouts as a pitcher, being the only player to ever accomplish this feat.
Cal Raleigh breaking record after record: To put it lightly, Cal Raleigh has been spectacular this year. Most home runs in a season by a catcher, most home runs in a season by a switch hitter, most home runs in Mariners history in a season, and the only catcher to win the Home Run Derby. The most fascinating part about all of these records: Raleigh looked like he took a step down from last year. His start to 2025 looked like he went from a 30 home run hitter to his manager begging him to get a single. After a few weeks into the year, it looked like Raleigh would be a massive disappointment for the season. The exact opposite would ensue. Raleigh started hitting bomb after bomb after bomb, and is on pace to become (along with Philadelphia Phillie Kyle Schwarber) the first player to hit 50+ home runs while batting under .260. Great offense, great defense and 60+ home runs later, and Raleigh is on his way to possibly becoming American League MVP.
What happened to the East: The National League East has been the weirdest division in baseball this season, while the American League East has been the most unpredictable. Coming into this season, most people expected the NL East to be very competitive with the Phillies, the Mets and the Braves all fighting for the division title. However, things went south real quick for Atlanta. At the start of the season, both the Phillies and Mets got off to hot starts, while the Braves were left in the dust, playing severely below standard. Once the All-Star break came around, the Mets and Phillies had changed spots between first and second a few times, but the Mets soon fell apart. Their pitching got worse, the offense fell asleep, and what was a tight division race turned into a cakewalk for the Phillies to win the division, while the Mets are simply fighting to stay in the postseason. Over in the American League, the East has been impossible to predict. At the beginning of the year, people expected the Yankees and Boston to slug it out for the division since both teams made moves in the offseason. However, as the season progressed, this division switched up about 8 times. First, it looked like the Yankees would run away early on with an offense that was smashing home runs, while Boston looked like it would be the biggest disappointment of the season with a very rough start. Then, the Yankees slowed and the Blue Jays took advantage, closing the gap in the division. Then the Blue Jays became the best team in the American League. Then Boston caught fire and overtook the Yankees in the division. Now, as we sit right now, the Yankees have caught fire at the right time, sitting second and still trying to steal the division from Toronto.
12.5 game lead: 12.5 games. That’s the lead the Tigers had in their division with one month left in the season. For reference, the Phillies have a 12-game lead over the Mets, and they’ve already won their division. Most people would think Detroit did the same. After all, they were the first team to reach 40 wins, one of the first to reach 50 wins, and were seen as the best team in the American League through July. Instead, Detroit, rather than already planning a first-round bye, is currently fighting not to lose its crown. Since September, they have been one of the bottom-half teams in the league, while their rival, the Cleveland Guardians, have gotten hot exactly when they needed to. From disappointing losses to great stretches of winning by the Guardians, that 12-game lead has been cut to 0 after the Guardians swept the Tigers this last series (and secured the season series against them). These two play another series in just a few days, and, with Cleveland ending the season with much easier opponents, we could be witnessing one of the worst September collapses in baseball history. Detroit, please get it together!
Pitchers find new homes, and leave their talents behind: Looking back at this prior offseason, a lot of pitchers found new homes. Between trades and signings, many teams were excited to bring new talent to their roster and help build for the future. However, optimism for new arms turned into regret and shock. Several pitchers who left their old team went from respected veterans and promising rookies to players that fans already want off their team. These players include Devin Williams of the Yankees, Tanner Scott of the Padres and Roki Sasaki of the Dodgers, Luis Severino of the Athletics, and so many more. Now, this wasn’t the case with every pitcher: Max Fried was an All-Star for the Yankees, Garrett Crochet is a Cy Young candidate for Boston, Nick Pivetta has been exactly what San Diego needed and Aroldis Chapman at 37 years old is having his best season of his career for Boston after leaving Pittsburgh. Despite the few pitchers that stayed the same or got better with new teams, the majority of signings and trades did not work out for many ball clubs.
Several things could be discussed with this season: Nick Kurtz having one of the best rookie seasons ever, the Mariners winning their division for the first time in 24 years, the fact that not a single no-hitter was thrown for the first time in 20 years and so much more. Looking back at the 2025 MLB season, it’s safe to say that fans will remember it for quite a while.
