Top 10 Most Surprising wRC+ Leaders in MLB Right Now

Most of the eyes around the industry have been on Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh in what is shaping up to be the MVP race for the ages. Both sluggers are on near-historic paces in terms of home runs, fWAR, and multiple other offensive categories.

While it remains surprising just how good these two – and a whole lot more of MLB’s modern superstars – are on a daily basis, it’s not a complete shock to see either of them, or someone like Shohei Ohtani, Pete Alonso, Juan Soto, or Kyle Tucker rank right around the top 10 in the league in wRC+.

Someone like Michael Busch, who’s currently fifth in the majors with a 162 wRC+ this year, is a bit more of a surprise. However, his inclusion in the conversation isn’t as much of a shock when you find that he was also a positive contributor on the Cubs last year. In 2025, he’s simply continuing to build off of what was a quiet, lowkey standout performance.

The further you scroll down the wRC+ leaderboards this season, the more legitimate surprises you come across. We spend so much time commending baseball’s best, how about we give some love to the players you wouldn’t expect to be swinging such a hot stick?

All stats updated prior to games on Sunday, July 6

Honorable Mentions

Carson Kelly, Chicago Cubs, 146 wRC+

It breaks my heart to say it, but Carson Kelly isn’t a qualified hitter right now, which is a total shame. The veteran backstop is enjoying a career year at the age of 30 after bouncing around the league in recent years.

Through 57 games, Kelly has 11 home runs with 31 RBI, hitting .268/.370./.508 with an .879 OPS and a wRC+ that would put him tied for 13th in baseball … if he had the at-bats.

Addison Barger, Toronto Blue Jays, 131 wRC+

Barger is a former highly-touted prospect in the not-so-distant past north of the border. He’s a lefty-swinging utility bat who has one of the strongest throwing arms in the league and a still-developing power stroke. Barger got a 69-game stint in the majors last year, but he hit just .197 with a 68 wRC+ and at times looked a bit too erratic at the dish.

This year, it’s been an entirely different story, and he’s improved all across the board in right around the same amount of games he had in 2024. So far, Barger has recorded 11 home runs with 35 RBI, an .840 OPS and 2.1 fWAR through 65 games. From walk-off hits to showing off that throwing arm from right field, he’s been keeping things loose in Toronto.

Javier Baez, Detroit Tigers, 113 wRC+

Say what you will about Javier Baez being an All-Star starter this year, but it’s impossible to deny that his rebound campaign hasn’t been impressive.

Baez doesn’t have enough plate appearances to be a qualified hitter, but he’s still got nine home runs with 37 RBI and 39 runs scored. He’s improved his triple-slash line in every category and a .757 OPS, which is the highest he’s had in a single season since 2021. He doesn’t have to be one of the best hitters in baseball to warrant a tip of the cap.

10 Most Surprising wRC+ Leaders in MLB Right Now

George Springer, Toronto Blue Jays, 150 wRC+

What George Springer has been doing this season has been nothing short of incredible. The 35-year-old has gradually declined for the Blue Jays over the past few years, and it was starting to look like his playing days were winding down.

Then 2025 hit.

Springer has been outstanding this year, and should be well on his way to another All-Star Game selection – his first with Toronto.

Not only is he walking at nearly a 13% clip (something he has never done in his career), but Springer is hitting for average again and is currently sporting some of his best offensive numbers since his career-best 2019 season.

He’s been a home run-hitting machine as of late, recording six longballs in his last 12 games. He’s up to 16 on the year and his .235 ISO is easily the highest he’s had since his first season on the Blue Jays in 2021.

Toronto’s got a lot of good things going for them right now, but Springer has been at the forefront of it all. He’s an excellent team leader, vibes guy, and clubhouse presence, and his production on the field is a massive cherry on top on the entire package he brings to the field.

Jonathan Aranda, Tampa Bay Rays, 149 wRC+

It is downright embarrassing that Jonathan Aranda wasn’t selected to start this year’s Midsummer Classic at first base, but this is one of the downfalls of having fans vote on the starters. If the Rays only had a bigger fanbase to put more people in Aranda’s corner, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.

Either way, seeing Aranda post MLB’s 12th-highest wRC+ by the beginning of July was not something anyone had on their 2025 bingo cards. He got off to a red-hot start this season and simply never looked back.

Aranda is in the 90th percentile or higher in xwOBA, xBA, xSLG, AVG Exit Velocity, Hard-Hit%, and LA Sweet-Spot% entering Sunday’s action. Not to mention he also leads all first basemen in batting average (.315) and OBP (.394).

He’s done more than enough to put his name on the map this year, so his days of flying under the radar are likely behind him, and rightfully so.

Jeremy Pena, Houston Astros, 146 wRC+

Having to replace Carlos Correa as the Astros’ next big thing at shortstop is no small task, and while it took him a little bit to capitalize on the potential and (fully) meet the expectations, Pena is on fire this year.

The 27-year-old just recently hit the injured list, but he had done more than enough pre-injury to cement himself as one of the game’s top shortstops.

Through 82 games this year, he’s got 11 home runs with 40 RBI, 15 stolen bases in 17 attempts, and an .867 OPS, which leads all shortstops. His .322 batting average is second amongst all shortstops behind rookie phenom Jacob Wilson, who’s hitting .333, and Pena is also second in OBP (.378) and SLG (.489).

It’s always been just a matter of time before Pena found his footing at the big league level, but he’s outperforming expectations. His 146 wRC+ dwarfs his previous career-high of 102 he had in his rookie campaign in 2022, and he hasn’t even reached 100 (which is league-average) in either of the years since then.

It took some time for Pena to find his mojo, but he’s now 13th in baseball in wRC+ and tied with Ohtani for fifth in fWAR. Put some respect on the man’s name, will you?

Kyle Stowers, Miami Marlins, 140 wRC+

A look at the leaderboards features a ton of familiar names in the wRC+ department, but it’s a major shock to see Stowers as the 19th-best player in the league so far. In some respects, he’s outperformed Rafael Devers, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Brent Rooker, and many other recognizable stars.

Stowers was shipped to the Marlins in what will ultimately go down as one of the most lopsided trades in Orioles and Marlins history at last year’s deadline. Trevor Rogers has held his own up in Baltimore, but the Marlins are the obvious winners in this deal, and they will remain that way.

It’s looking more and more likely by the day that Stowers is the Marlins’ All-Star Game representative this year. This is a deserving honor for the 27-year-old, as he’s experienced a breakout season in every sense of the word through his first 83 games.

Amongst qualifying outfielders, Stowers is eighth-best in the game by wRC+. He’s also got 16 home runs with 46 RBI and is leading the Marlins in basically every single offensive category. Miami is seven games under .500 and 11 games out of the top spot in the NL East, but Stowers has been a major bright spot for them and could be a long-term asset for them … if he isn’t traded this month.

Trent Grisham, New York Yankees, 133 wRC+

Grisham is one of the players on this list that’s been around for a while now. He’s also never swung the bat quite like he has this year in any previous campaign. The seven-year veteran has reached double-digit home run totals four times before this season, but he’s already one away from a career-high and he’s only 76 games into the year.

Grisham has always been known as a glove-first player, hence the two Gold Glove Awards he has and no All-Star Game selections or Silver Sluggers, but he’s really come into his own offensively in 2025. His .820 OPS would easily be a career-high if the season ended today, and his .471 SLG would also comfortably be the best he’s had in his career.

A lot of Grisham’s full-season numbers are propped up by a scorching-hot first month in which he had a 181 wRC+, but he’s been above-average in every month since.

His stats don’t perfectly stack up against some of the game’s best, but he’s hit more home runs than Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Chourio, Jose Ramirez, and Manny Machado; and his OPS is above Christian Yelich, Francisco Lindor, Tatis, Jose Altuve, and Cody Bellinger. That’s got to count for something.

Maikel Garcia, Kansas City Royals, 129 wRC+

When you first think of the Kansas City Royals, you’re forgiven if Bobby Witt Jr. is the first name to come to mind. He’s the face of the franchise and is going to be one of the greatest to ever wear Royal Blue by the time he hangs it up well over a decade from now.

However, Witt hasn’t quite looked like himself through the first few months of the season, and that’s opened the door for Garcia to fill in some of the gaps. Similarly to Grisham, Garcia’s value has historically lied primarily in what he can do with his glove and on the bases, but he’s come into his own offensively this season.

Through 88 games, Garcia has already set a new career-high with eight home runs, and he’s both raised his walk rate and lowered his strikeout rate in the process. His .162 ISO is a whopping 61 points higher than it was last year, and he’s well above his previous career-highs in every part of his triple-slash line.

Garcia has continued to be rock solid on defense and his 18 stolen bases are tied for 11th in the game, but his wRC+ puts him down as the 39th-best offensive contributor in baseball. It’s not super sexy to be 39th on the leaderboards, but he’s above Josh Naylor, Elly De La Cruz, Trea Turner, Gunnar Henderson, and many more of the typical names we see far higher than the Maikel Garcias of the world.

Zach McKinstry, Detroit Tigers, 129 wRC+

Few players here have been outperforming their career norms quite like McKinstry has this season. His wRC+ is a stunning 47 points higher than the 82 he had in 2023, which was his previous career best. He’s always been viewed as a defense-first utility player who can’t hit much but can bounce all around the diamond on defense.

McKinstry only has two seasons with over 300 plate appearances under his belt before 2025, so there’s not a ton to go off of, but he’s also got three partial seasons on the back of his baseball card. In that time, he’s never walked as frequently as he has this year, never had a higher ISO, and has never come close to the triple-slash line that he’s got going for him this season.

A lot of McKinstry’s 2.6 fWAR is carried by his defensive play this season, but he’s somehow still sporting a wRC+ higher than Witt, Paul Goldschmidt, and so many other stars on the leaderboards.

He’s also hitting .395 with a 1.063 OPS over his last 12 games, which is not too shabby for a light-hitting utility player.

Jo Adell, Los Angeles Angels, 129 wRC+

Adell is in his sixth season as a big-leaguer, and he’s finally playing like the star Angels fans expected him to turn into years back. The 26-year-old has carried the weight of lofty expectations that come with being a first-round pick in the MLB Draft, and until this season he’s never come close to meeting the level of play that fans expected from him.

There are zero offensive categories Adell hasn’t either already set career-highs in or won’t top by the time this season comes to an end, except for his walk rate and stolen bases. He’s suddenly hitting for a ton of power, with a .255 ISO that ranks 15th in baseball.

Over the last month alone, Adell has hit eight home runs (tied for fifth in MLB) with a .316 batting average and 1.040 OPS (eighth in MLB). It’s been a blast to see him finally start to capitalize on the immense amount of potential he showed off on his ascent up the minor-league ladder a few years back.

Jake Meyers, Houston Astros, 120 wRC+

Another elite defender, Meyers make his way onto the list by finally hitting his stride with the bat in 2025. The five-year veteran has long been one of baseball’s brightest defensive outfielders, but he’s got an above-average bat for the first time in his career.

So far this season, the only thing Meyers hasn’t done much of is hit for power, as he’s hit just three home runs an posted an ISO of .098 through 87 games. However, he’s still recording extra-base hits without the round-trippers and stealing bases.

Meyers has hit double-digit home runs in each of the past two years, but it’s likely going to take a pretty major power sruge for him to get there this year. Even still, a center fielder who can hit over (or at least near) .300 while playing elite level defense is an extremely valuable asset.

There was a time not too long ago where it seemed like Meyers might get squeezed out of a role on the Astros, but his play this year has ensured he’ll keep his handle on a starting gig for the foreseeable future.

Gavin Sheets, San Diego Padres, 117 wRC+

As we reach the final entrant in our list, I’m not going to pretend that Gavin Sheets’ 117 wRC+ is league-altering. However, he definitely fits the vibe of what we’re going for here, as he’s never hit quite like he has this year this deep into a season. Sure, he had an .830 OPS in a 54-game showing back in his rookie season in 2021, but he’s been a negative-value player in each of the three full years since then.

In his first go-round as a National Leaguer, Sheets has settled into his a role on the Padres nicely. He’s shuffled between first base, left field, and designated hitter, and his bat has never been stronger. The 29-year-old has 13 home runs and 49 RBI through 85 games, posting a full-season career-high in batting average (.264), OBP (.323), SLG (.452) and wRC+.

His 1.0 fWAR is far from enough to jump off the page, but he’s never previously come close to being worth a full win above replacement. When the Padres acquired Sheets this past offseason, it was so easy to look at his numbers on the White Sox and write him off since he “wasn’t good enough to stay on the worst team in baseball,” but his turnaround in 2025 suggests that he was never fully to blame for the poor numbers he posted on those cellar-dwelling Sox teams.