5 Players MLB Fans Should Be Thankful For
5 Players MLB Fans Should Be Thankful For Because They Are the Faces of MLB & are Generational Talents
Happy Thanksgiving from The Leadoff Baseball Report! Each year, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, where we celebrate what we are thankful for. This Thanksgiving, whether you love them or hate them, all MLB fans should be thankful for these 5 players, because there will never be another player like them again.
Shohei Ohtani | TWP | LAD
We all know about Shohei Ohtani, the only player to ever be able to be a two-way player at this level— and arguably the best player of all-time. After 4 season of pro baseball in Japan, Ohtani came to the United States to play for the Los Angeles Angels. During his time with the Halos, Ohtani made himself known as a superstar. Then, Ohtani became a free agent in 2023 & signed the largest deal in North American sports history with the Los Angeles Dodgers— a 10-year, $700 million contract. Ohtani, who is usually a pitcher & designated hitter, was unable to pitch in 2024 due to undergoing Tommy John surgery in the offseason. Even though he was only hitting, Ohtani had the best season of his career that led to the first 50/50 season in Major League Baseball history & his 3rd MVP Award. Ohtani’s amazing season ended up being one of the biggest parts of the 2024 Dodgers, who ended up winning the World Series. Other accomplishments of Ohtani include being the 2018 AL Rookie of the Year, a 4x All-Star Selection, & a 3x Silver Slugger Award winner.
Bryce Harper | 1B | PHI
Bryce Harper has always been a superstar. From going to play college ball at 17 to being selected first overall by the Nationals in 2010 to signing a massive, 13-year, $330M deal with the Phillies in 2019. Harper has been known for his power & clutch hitting throughout his career. His most famous moments are his walk-off grand slam vs the Cubs in 2019 & his “Bedlam at the Bank” moment during the 2022 NLCS. Even with injuries throughout his career, Harper is a 2x NL MVP, 2010 NL Rookie of the Year, an 8x All-Star, 4x Silver Slugger, 2018 Homerun Derby Champion, & the 2022 NLCS MVP. All of these injuries have eventually caused Harper to move from right field to first base, however, Harper has played tremendously at first, leading to him being a Gold Glove finalist in his first season at the position & showing how good of an overall player Harper really is.
Mookie Betts | OF/MINF | LAD
Mookie Betts is now a 3-time World Series champion. That’s only one great thing to say about Mookie. Betts plays an amazing defense. Partly because he is an extremely versatile player who can play right field, second base, & shortstop! Although many players can play a lot of positions, Betts plays all of these positions at an All-Star level, which is really impressive. On the other side of the game, Betts is an amazing hitter. Although he isn’t known for his power, Betts is one of the best bat to ball hitters in the league right now, and he seems to be very clutch. Now, as mentioned before, Betts doesn’t have a lot of power. However, he still gets his fair share of homeruns too.
Ronald Acuna Jr. | OF | ATL
Many baseball fans have forgotten how good Ronald Acuna Jr. really is, due to him missing the entire 2024 season with a torn ACL. In 2023, Ronald had a historic season, becoming the first player in history to record a 40/70 season, en route to winning the NL MVP Award. Like Harper & Ohtani, Acuna was also a Rookie of the Year winner, winning the award in 2018. In 2021, Acuna helped the Braves win a World Series championship, even though he was injured during the playoffs. Acuna is also a 4x All-Star and a 3x Silver Slugger Award winner. Hopefully, the baseball world can see Acuna have another amazing season next year rather than him being sidelined with injures.
Juan Soto | OF
A lot of the current buzz involving the MLB is about Juan Soto, who is easily the top free agent right now and is projected to sing a massive contract. Soto must be pretty good if he is this highly sought after, but what makes him so good? To start, Soto is only 26 years old and already has amazing stats and accomplishments. Soto signed with the Nationals as an international free agent in 2015 & quickly made an impact in the MLB once he made his debut. In his sophomore season (2019), Soto became a World Series champion with the Washington Nationals. Soto would later be traded in a huge deal where the Nationals would get CJ Abrams, James Wood, & McKenzie Gore, all a big part of D.C.’s young talent right now. After 2 seasons with the Padres, Soto was traded to the Yankees last offseason and had the best season of his career. In 2024, Soto had an MVP-caliber season that helped the Yankees win the AL Pennant & reach the World Series for the first time since 2009. Throughout his career, Soto has been named to 4 All-Star games, has been a Silver Slugger award winner 5 times, won the 2023 HR Derby, & won the 2020 NL Batting Title.
Whether you are a huge fan of this player, or you hate them, fans of all 30 MLB teams should be thankful for these 5 players because they are generational talents, they have helped shape Major League Baseball, & because we may never see a player like them ever again.
All great talents, but whenever I hear best of all-time for someone like Ohtani, and the most overrated player of this generation, Mike Trout, I say look at the traditional stats rather than the theoretical analytics. Is Ohtani maybe one of the best talents ever? Sure, given his ability to hit and pitch at a high level, but is he having one of the best careers ever? Not yet. Got to give these players a chance to go at least 10 to 12 seasons of being consistently good while staying on the field as well. Trout failed there and Ohtani has had his slew of injuries as well.
Great talents, but all time careers? Nope. Let's see where Ohtani's traditional numbers are when it's all said and done.
Good post. Enjoyed the read.
Bro Aaron Judge should be up there