2025 AL West Breakout Stars

2025 AL West Breakout Stars

Hi, Trey here. I think you get the point of this by now. If you read the post on the AL East or AL Central, you know the drill so I’m going to keep things moving. Here are your 2025 AL West breakout stars for the upcoming season!

Houston Astros: Spencer Arrighetti 

Beyond the fact that I know you’re tempted to just call the guy “spaghetti” and to keep it moving, I think the Astros might actually have something here.

It was a max exodus of talent in Houston and the pitching side of it is going to have to be on top of things to keep Houston as contenders in the AL. That mission starts here. Arrighetti showed some flashes as a rookie and had some favorable metrics on his side (96th percentile in extension, 81st percentile breaking ball run value, 79th percentile in K rate). Right now he just needs to clean up the control and stop walking batters while increasing the success rate on his fastball. If things start to trend in the right direction on that stuff, Houston should have a legit arm in their staff that takes a step forward.

Los Angeles Angels: Matthew Lugo

You may or may not remember this but I’m pretty adamant about the fact that Craig Breslow might deserve his head on a spike for the Luis Garcia trade. I don’t need hindsight bias. That trade was always going to be stupid and that’s exactly what happened.

The Angels haven’t done many things smart during the last 5-10 years but stealing Matthew Lugo away was one of them. Still not sure what position he plays but he has some hidden power in that bat of his and he’s related to Carlos Beltran. Former second round pick by the Red Sox who has potential. He’s someone to watch for this year.

Sacramento? A’s: Lawrence Butler

Maybe this is a lazy answer after the extension but how much is there really to be excited about this A’s team? Are they really going to be listed as Sacramento in the standings? I have no idea. I still think if they’re going to move to Vegas, they should change the entire team name but that’s a topic for another day.

Butler might genuinely be a young player on the roster to be excited about. The A’s have a hard time paying anyone but made it a priority to do so here. Heading into year three, we’re going to find out if Butler is an emerging superstar or just a really nice player.

Seattle Mariners: Harry Ford

I may be a year too soon here but it sure feels like the Mariners have a legit catcher about to come through the system. Ford, a former first round pick in 2021, finished last season at the AA level. I wouldn’t say you’re going to be blown away but the bat but he’s a really complete catcher on both sides of things. Given the pitching staff the Mariners have, Ford is someone to watch. Can he come in and be a missing piece to things? What does that mean for Mitch Garver who kinda sucked last year? Keep an eye on this.

2024 AL West Breakout Stars

Texas Rangers: Kumar Rocker

It’s time. The MLB Draft is weird but Rocker was so hyped that we were begging teams to tank for him. Rocker is ready to be a legit MLB arm. He looked pretty good during three outings last year. Dude has incredible stuff and was a top draft pick coming out of Vandy for a reason. Jack Leiter is also on the horizon for Texas. What if those two legit turn into monsters at the top of the rotation? If you’re looking for reasons to watch, pick the Rocker starts because there’s a chance he does turn into a real monster.

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