MLB spring training 2025: 10 players scouts are buzzing about
Early-spring performances can be the biggest mirage in baseball, a function of games that feature mismatches between major leaguers and minor leaguers. Still, with spring training now in full swing, pitchers beginning to stretch out and hitters finding their swings, there can be signal amid the noise.
Three dozen general managers, scouts, analysts and evaluators surveyed by ESPN tried to separate real from fake and offer insight into players they expect to take a step forward this season. Here are 10 creating a buzz in camps around Arizona and Florida.
It’s easy to forget that McLain had a better rookie season in 2023 than his keystone partner, Elly De La Cruz. While De La Cruz developed into a star in 2024, McLain missed the entire season with shoulder and rib injuries. The 25-year-old is healthy now, and one evaluator this week said that by the end of the 2025 season, McLain and De La Cruz will be the best second base/shortstop combination in baseball.
At 5-foot-8 and 180 pounds, McLain doesn’t look like a power hitter. But he consistently barrels the ball, plays with a high baseball IQ and makes Cincinnati a sneaky dangerous team in a wide-open National League Central.
