The 2026 MLB season is just over a month in, and several players have already exceeded, or come short of, early season expectations.
While the story of the season thus far have been the abominable New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros, and Toronto Blue Jays - all theoretical contenders - teams like the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Miami Marlins, and Chicago White Sox have all played better-than-expected baseball.
Stars currently lighting up the league include Yordan Alvarez, Mike Trout, Elly De La Cruz, Aaron Judge, Ben Rice, and more, but there are plenty of under-the-radar players that have enjoyed tremendous seasons at the plate or on the mound as well.
In this article, we'll focus on those relatively unknown players that are having terrific seasons so far. Below is a player at each position that has greatly outperformed expectations:
MLB All-Breakout Team - Through April 2026
Catcher: Liam Hicks (MIA)
Did you know that Liam Hicks is third in WAR for a catcher at 1.1? He's ahead of guys such as Cal Raleigh, Hunter Goodman, Adley Rutschman, and virtually every other catcher in the league. Only Drake Baldwin (1.2) and Shea Langeliers (1.4) have a higher WAR for a catcher through April.
Hicks is in his second MLB season at age 27. With guys like Kyle Stowers, Owen Caissie, Xavier Edwards, Agustin Ramirez, and Otto Lopez headlining the team, the lefty catcher was somewhat of an afterthought for the Miami Marlins coming into the season.
He is certainly on everyone's radar now after mashing seven homers in 29 games (he hit six in 119 games last year), hitting .315, and striking out just eight times in 104 plate appearances.
Hicks is in the 99th percentile in strikeout rate, 99th percentile in whiff rate (swings at pitches outside the zone), 98th percentile in squared-up rate, and 97th percentile in expected batting average.
He showed off a terrific eye in his rookie year last season, but that's about all he was good at. Now, he's mashing the ball while still owning that wonderful knowledge of the strikezone. He also just hit homers off Dodgers' star pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow this week.
First Base: Ildemaro Vargas (ARI)
You had to know this was coming. Vargas, a 10th year vet, has played for five different teams and is on his third different stint as an Arizona Diamondback.
The journeyman slap hitter has never played more than 95 games in a season and has only cracked an OPS above .700 once in his career (2019).
Now, seemingly out of nowhere, Vargas is an outstanding hitter with plenty of pop through 23 games. The utility man mostly plays at first base where is he third among all first basemen with a 1.5 WAR.
He's already matched his career-high in homers with six (hit six in 92 games in 2019), is leading MLB in batting average (.372), and leads the NL in SLG (.698) and OPS (1.091). Oh, he is also currently is in the midst of a 23-game hitting streak.
His numbers are bound to come down at some point considering his low walk rate (3.3%) and low average exit velocity (15th percentile), but he doesn't strike out, squares up the ball often, and has been a valuable fielder and baserunner.
Second Base: Oswald Peraza (LAA)
Nico Hoerner, Brice Turang, JJ Wetherholt, and Xavier Edwards are all having phenomenal seasons at second base, but the most surprising guy has been the Angels' Oswald Peraza.
Peraza, a former New York Yankee, accumulated a -0.6 WAR in his first four seasons in MLB, but he's already posted a 0.8 WAR this year in 29 games.
Peraza has four homers, including one off former teammate Max Fried, which almost ties his career-high of five from last year.
He has a .827 OPS and is hitting .280. With power bats like Zach Neto, Trout, Jo Adell, and Jorge Soler hitting above him, Peraza has extended this terrific Angels' lineup even more.
Shortstop: Otto Lopez (MIA)
Fans could sense an Otto Lopez breakout after he hit 15 homers last year and had moments of consistently hitting the ball hard, and that breakout is, in fact, happening.
Lopez has always defended and ran the bases well, and now he's starting to really figure out his bat. This is his third full season in MLB, and in the first two, he ended the year with a .690 and .672 OPS respectively.
This year, his OPS is up to .854. The Marlin is third among all MLB shortstops with a 1.5 WAR, and honestly, he could get even better. Lopez is in the 85th percentile in average exit velocity and 83rd percentile in hard-hit rate, but he only has three homers this year.
The former Blue Jay is smoking baseballs, highlighted by his .322 batting average, and if he starts lifting the ball a bit more (18th percentile in launch angle sweet spot rate), balls will start flying out of the park.
Third Base: Josh Jung (TEX)
Jung had plenty of hype as a Rangers' prospect (consistently ranked in the top-three of all third basemen as a prospect), but outside of his second season in which he hit 23 homers, he had been pretty disappointing.
The disappointment was highlighted by his 2025 season in which he finished with a .684 OPS, hitting 14 homers and walking just 27 times in 131 games.
This year, his at-bats have been phenomenal. Over the course of the year, that walk rate has jumped up from 5.3% last year to 8.8% this year, his strikeout rate has gone down from 25.2% to 16.8%, and his average exit velocity has jumped from 89.3 MPH to 91.9 MPH.
The quality of at-bats is a good sign for Jung to keep up this momentum (.925 OPS).
Left Field: Austin Martin (MIN)
Perhaps the weakest position in baseball right now (Randy Arozarena leads all left fielders with 1.0 WAR), we'll go with the Twins' Austin Martin here.
Martin was the fifth overall pick in 2017, but he's only played 170 career games. The 27-year-old had a -0.3 career WAR entering this season, but he's already accumulated 1.0 WAR this year.
Martin may never come close to a 15-homer season in his career (three career bombs), but his at-bats are tremendous from the leadoff spot.
He walks (22.0%) more than he strikes out (15.9%), and does a good job hitting for average. He currently has a .476 on-base percentage (would be tops in MLB if he qualified), and has 23 hits in 61 at-bats.
Center Field: Daniel Schneemann (CLE)
Guardians' outfielder Daniel Schneemann is having one of the best seasons in MLB.
His 1.3 WAR is second to only Trout among all center-fielders in the league. His defense has been amazing throughout his three seasons, but he's putting together a wonderful year at the plate as well.
He strikes out a little too much (29.9%), but when he gets the bat to the ball, it goes a long way. He's in the 80th percentile in all expected hitting stats (xwOBA, xBA, xSLG), and hits the ball with the ideal launch angle 46.2% of the time (98th percentile).
Schneemann is hitting .321 with a .955 OPS and has four homers in 26 games.
He's a top-three defender at center, and now he's become a great hitter. It wouldn't be surprising if Schneemann makes the All-Star team (as a reserve behind Trout) in July.
Right Field: Jordan Walker (STL)
The Jordan Walker breakout is finally happening.
The former top prospect is still just 24-years-old, but his first three seasons in the league didn't provide much hope to the Cardinals. Walker is massive - he's listed at 6'6, 250 lbs, and has always had light-tower power, but he had been extremely inconsistent to start his career. He is finally starting to put together some great at-bats at the plate.
Walker bounced up and down between the minors and majors in the last two years and had an abysmal -2.7 WAR in his first three years. So far in 29 games this year, his WAR is 1.6.
He has one of the fastest swings in the league and has always hit the ball hard, but the key difference this year is his launch angle. He hit too many ground balls and pop ups, and not enough line drives or fly balls, but that's changed.
His launch angle sweet spot rate (balls hit between 8 and 32 degrees) has jumped from 29.0% in 2025 to 38.9% this year. He's also producing much better at-bats, walking at the highest rate of his career by a lot.
After posting a .584 OPS and just six homers hit in 111 games last year, Walker already has nine homers and an OPS above .900 in 30 games this year.
Designated Hitter: Carlos Cortes (ATH)
Cortes was an unknown entity before his age-28 rookie season last year in which he performed well in 42 games, but the A's designated hitter is having an unbelievable offensive start to the season.
In 74 plate appearances, Cortes has a .400 batting average, .472 on-base percentage, and a 1.165 OPS. His 1.1 WAR is behind only Shohei Ohtani and Yordan Alvarez among all DH's in the league.
Cortes has eight walks compared to just five strikeouts and hits the ball hard almost every time he's at the plate. He's in the 99th percentile of xwOBA, 100th percentile of xBA, and 98th percentile in xSLG.
He has a 51.7% hard-hit rate (batted balls with a 95+ MPH exit velocity), and a 15% barrel rate - both in the 87th percentile of all MLB hitters.
He walks, doesn't strike out, and hits the ball hard. What else more could you want from your DH?
Starting Pitcher: Chase Dollander (COL)
The whole Rockies pitching staff (other than Victor Vodnik) deserves a shout. The staff has improved significantly over the course of the year, including, of course, Dollander.
The former No. 9 overall pick has always had tremendous stuff, but it was used in the wrong way with the old coaching staff last year.
Dollander's fastball is tremendous (often reaching 98+ MPH), but he threw it far too much in 2025. His usage rate of the pitch has dropped from 49% last year to 38% this year, while his secondary pitches such as a sinker, slider, and changeup have all been thrown more often, which makes hitters think a bit more.
Now that he is incorporating those secondary pitches more often, the strong fastball can catch hitters by surprise, and now he's almost unhittable.
After a 6.52 ERA in 2025 and 82 strikeouts in 98 innings pitched, Dollander is sporting a 2.25 ERA and has struck out 39 batters in 32 innings.
Relief Pitcher: Antonio Senzatela (COL)
Told you there's a bunch of Rockies pitchers that deserve to be on here. The biggest breakout in the bullpen, though, has been 10-year-vet Antonio Senzatela.
A former starter turned into a reliever, Senzatela is having one of the best seasons of any pitcher out of the pen this year.
Prior to this year, Senzatela's best season came in 2021. He had a 4.42 ERA and had 105 strikeouts in 156.2 innings. Similarly to Dollander, the old Rockies pitching staff had Senzatela throwing far too many fastballs.
Prior to this year, Senzatela's lowest fastball rate came in 2022 when 53% of his pitches were of the four-seam variety. When you play half your games at the most hitter-friendly park in the league and throw the same exact pitch more than half the time, hitters will dominate you.
This year, Senzatela is throwing a four-seam fastball just 37% of the time. A remarkable drop. He's using a cutter and sinker much more often, and that little bit of movement in each pitch has made all the difference.
His strikeout rate has been the eye-opener this year. His career-best SO/9 innings number came in his second season (6.9). From 2022-2025 his best SO/9 inning number was 5.3. This year, it's all the way up to 9.0. After striking out just 73 guys in 130 innings last year, Senzatela has made 18 hitters go down by the K in 18 innings this year.
His ERA last year was 6.65. This year? 0.46. He's in the 95th percentile of xERA among all pitchers, 97th percentile in chase rate, and 80th percentile in strikeout rate.
In his 10th year, Senzatela's breakout year is comparable to Vargas'.
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