Top 10 Best Players in the NL West for the 2025 MLB Season

Heading into the 2025 season, baseball’s eyes will be focused on many players in new places, but one division shines past them all in this area: The National League West.

Throughout the offseason, we saw a tremendous amount of talent flock to the NL West once again, following the trend of the last few offseasons. This division was already one of the better ones in all of baseball, boasting the game’s best player Shohei Ohtani, among plenty of other talent.

Alongside Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers are the premier team in baseball, and it isn’t particularly close. They also have former MVPs Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts on the diamond, alongside star pitchers such as Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Tyler Glasnow in the rotation.

Alongside this stacked Dodgers roster, the Padres, D-Backs, Rockies, and Giants are all fielding incredibly talented teams this season. From young stars such as Jackson Merrill and Corbin Carroll to veteran sluggers like Manny Machado, Ketel Marte, and Willy Adames, this is truly the best division in baseball in terms of talent.

Without further ado, let’s check out the 10 best players who’ll take the field in the NL West this summer.

Who Just Missed the Top 10?

Teoscar Hernandez (LAD)

The first player who just missed the top 10 players in the NL West, is Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández. Hernández is coming off of one of the better seasons of his career, where he hit 33 homers, slashed .272/.339/.501 with a 134 wRC+ and a 3.5 fWAR.

While this season would’ve likely landed Hernández on any other division’s top 10 list, the amount of talent present in the NL West makes it incredibly difficult for him to squeeze his way onto the list.

However, if Hernández follows up his first season in Dodger Blue with anything close to what he did in 2024, it’ll become increasingly more difficult to keep him off the top 10.

Brenton Doyle (COL)

Rockies outfielder Brenton Doyle is the second player who just missed out on this list. In 149 games last season, Doyle showed flashes of being a great player, but similarly to Hernández, the NL West being so good makes it easy for him to get overlooked.

In 2024, Doyle hit 23 homers, slashed .260/.317/.446 with a 97 wRC+ and a 3.7 fWAR. While his bat was solid, arguably the best part of his game was his glove. In his first two big league seasons, he’s taken home a Gold Glove Award.

He recorded 15 OAA last season, with his 94th-percentile speed allowing him to run down balls in the gap that most players couldn’t get to. If Doyle becomes even slightly above-average offensively, this is a player that can skyrocket up WAR leaderboards due to the high floor his glove and speed on the basepaths provide.

If the Rockies are going to have a guy on this list next year, Doyle may be the best bet who could make that All-Star jump to do it.

10. Willy Adames, San Francisco Giants

2024 Stats: 161 G, .251/.331/.462, 32 HR, 21 SB, 112 RBI, 119 wRC+, 4.8 fWAR

As I touched on in the introduction, this offseason we saw a lot of talent flock to the NL West once again, and one of these key players was Giants shortstop Willy Adames.

Adames comes to San Francisco after having arguably the best season of his career in 2024. He posted career highs in homers, RBI, xwOBA, and fWAR, which is very impressive.

For a few offseasons now, the Giants have tried to land the league’s top free agents, but have been unsuccessful in the process. When they landed Adames this winter, this became a different story.

In Willy Adames, the Giants have finally found their franchise shortstop, and he’s immediately become a top-10 player in the division. If he continues to hit how he has to this point, there’s no doubt he’ll be worth every penny of his $182 million deal.

9. Matt Chapman, San Francisco Giants

2024 Stats: 154 G, .247/.328/.463, 27 HR, 78 RBI, 15 SB, 121 wRC+, 5.5 fWAR

In the course of two offseasons, the San Francisco Giants have put together one of the best duos on the left side of the infield in all of baseball. With Willy Adames making up half of this, their third baseman Matt Chapman completes the duo.

Chapman’s first year in San Francisco was arguably one of the better seasons of his career, as his numbers were incredible across the board. His 5.5 fWAR tied his 2019 season for the second-highest fWAR season in his career. Not only this, but it was his highest fWAR in four seasons.

Chapman came just shy of being the first Giant in two decades to hit 30 home runs, while also providing Gold Glove-caliber defense. He put up an OAA of 11, which placed him in baseball’s 96th percentile.

Heading into 2025, it’ll be very interesting to see if Chapman can break the 30-homer drought, and help propel the Giants towards becoming a competitive team once again.

8. Manny Machado, San Diego Padres

2024 Stats: 152 G, .275/.325/.472, 29 HR, 11 SB, 105 RBI, 122 wRC+, 3.6 fWAR

The San Diego Padres possess just as much talent as anyone in baseball, and one of the key contributors to their offense is their third baseman, Manny Machado.

Similarly to a few other players on this list, Machado is one of the highest-paid players in baseball, and so far, he’s been worth every penny of his contract. Aside from his first season with the Padres in 2019, Machado has posted a wRC+ above 110 every season.

Machado continued to be one of the more valuable third-basemen in the league as well, with his 3.6 fWAR placing 7th on the third base leaderboard. We’ve also seen Machado become one of the leaders in the Padres clubhouse over the last few years, something we didn’t see early in his career.

After finishing just one homer shy of the 30-homer threshold in 2024, it’ll be exciting to see him take the field in Petco Park once again this season.

7. Jackson Merrill, San Diego Padres

2024 Stats: 156 G, .292/.326/.500, 24 HR, 16 SB, 90 RBI, 130 wRC+, 5.3 fWAR

The race for the National League Rookie of the Year Award was as tight as ever in 2024, with two players having historic seasons respectively.

If it hadn’t been for the winner, Paul Skenes, putting up the best rookie pitching season ever, the award would’ve landed in the hands of Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill.

In his rookie campaign, Merrill finished 15th in baseball in fWAR, while producing a 130 wRC+ at the plate. Not only is this impressive for a rookie, but it’s also impressive that the pressure of learning a new position didn’t affect his game at all.

Merrill posted 11 OAA in his first season in center field, putting him in baseball’s 97th percentile. Also, Merrill became an All-Star in his first season, another impressive feat.

While Merrill may not have taken home the Rookie of the Year Award, his quest to become one of the league’s best players continues in 2025.

6. Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres

2024 Stats: 102 G, .276/.340/.492, 21 HR, 11 SB, 49 RBI, 135 wRC+, 3.2 fWAR

While the Padres have plenty of deserving players, the third and final Padre to be featured inside the top 10, is outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr.

Tatis’ 2025 season will be the fifth year of his career, and when he’s been on the field, there have not been many players better than Tatis. Despite missing 60 games last year, Tatis still managed to hit over 20 homers, recording a 135 wRC+, in a season worth over three wins.

If Tatis had played a full season, he would’ve been on pace to hit over 30 homers, while also posting over 5 fWAR. If Tatis can come anywhere near this production in 2025, he should put himself in the center of the NL MVP conversation once again.

Tatis is still just 25 years old, and when he’s healthy, it’s very hard to find a better, and more exciting player. I speak for baseball fans everywhere, when I say I can’t wait to see Tatis take the field this summer.

5. Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks

2024 Stats: 158 G, .231/.322/.428, 22 HR, 35 SB, 74 RBI, 107 wRC+, 4.0 fWAR

Although his sophomore season was filled with struggles, Corbin Carroll still showcased all of the tools that made him the 2023 National League Rookie of the Year.

Arguably the most encouraging part of his 2024 season, was that his wRC+ in the second half of the season was nearly 70 points higher than his wRC+ in the first half. Despite this, in what was considered a down year for the 25-year-old, Carroll still managed to post a four-win season and hit over 20 home runs.

Carroll is one of the more well-rounded players in all of baseball as well. His speed is off the charts, placing him in the 96th percentile last season. Not only this, but he possesses an elite glove, putting up a 92nd percentile OAA.

If Carroll can continue his second-half successes, and return to the player he was in 2023, there’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll become one of baseball’s top players once again.

4. Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers

2024 Stats: 147 G, .282/.378/.476, 22 HR, 9 SB, 89 RBI, 137 wRC+, 4.0 fWAR

The Dodgers currently possess four former MVP Award winners, and one of these four players, Freddie Freeman, makes his way onto the list at number four.

Although Freeman is now 35 years old, age doesn’t seem to be slowing him down one bit. Last season, his four-win season and 137 wRC+ placed him third among all first basemen, supporting this idea that age is just a number for Freeman.

Freeman was also one of the most impactful players in the Dodgers’ World Series run, as he hit one of the most iconic home runs in baseball history, a walk-off grand slam in game one. Not only this, but he’d hit home runs in six consecutive World Series games, breaking a World Series record.

Freeman may have been dethroned as the top first baseman in baseball, but he’ll be looking to take back his crown as the 2025 season gets underway.

3. Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks

2024 Stats: 136 G, .292/.372/.560, 36 HR, 7 SB, 95 RBI, 151 wRC+, 6.3 fWAR

The D-Backs have put together a really good core after their 2023 World Series run, and a big part of that is their second baseman, Ketel Marte.

Marte was one of the best players in baseball in 2024, which led to him finishing third in NL MVP voting and being ranked as our top second baseman for 2025. He finished 10th in baseball in fWAR, wRC+, and in homers, which is super impressive.

Marte made yet another All-Star team in 2024 as well, taking home a Silver Slugger Award in the process.

Despite performing as well as he did in 2024, Marte remains one of baseball’s most underrated players, and it’s time we finally put some respect to his name. If he repeats his 2024 season, Marte will be in the MVP race once again.

2. Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers

2024 Stats: 116 G, .289/.372/.491, 19 HR, 16 SB, 75 RBI, 141 RC+, 4.4 fWAR

Although he missed some time last season, Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts put up a great offensive season in 2024, once again proving why he’s one of the top 10 players in baseball.

Similarly to Tatis, if you project his season out over 162 games, Betts would’ve hit close to 30 homers, which is very impressive. He was also on track to be a six-win player, which would’ve been the third consecutive season he’d have reached the six-win mark.

Betts’ move to shortstop will take some getting used to, as he finished the season as a negative defender. But, with more reps in 2025, I’m sure Betts will figure out his defensive woes.

If it hadn’t been for Ronald Acuña Jr.’s historic 2023 campaign, Betts would already be a two-time MVP Award winner. But, if he returns to that level of play, and can stay healthy, look for him to finally win his second MVP in 2025.

1. Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers

2024 Stats: 159 G, .310/.390/.646, 54 HR, 59 SB, 130 RBI, 181 wRC+, 9.1 fWAR

The number one player in the NL West is none other than the best player in baseball, Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani is coming off of yet another record-setting season, where he became the first player in baseball history to join the 50/50 club.

Not only this, but Ohtani took home his third MVP award, making him the 12th player in MLB history to accomplish this feat. In the process, he became the second player in MLB history to win an MVP in both the American League and National League.

In 2025, Ohtani will also be returning to the mound at some point, making him even more valuable than he was in 2024. This should be incredible to watch, as Ohtani posted over a 9.0 fWAR while just hitting alone!

When talking about Shohei Ohtani, there’s almost no limit to the good things you could say about his game. And in 2025, those good things should only continue to grow, as he continues to author his inner-circle Hall of Fame career.