MLB Spotlight: 4 Players Poised for a Breakout Season

The Major League Baseball (MLB) season is a grind with 162 games over the course of seven months, during which time there are many intriguing storylines and several players who establish themselves among the best in the league with career-defining performances. Below are four players who could have breakout seasons in 2024, according to an MLB poll of more than 35 executives.

Royce Lewis (Minnesota Twins)

Three of the 38 executives polled by MLB selected Minnesota Twins third baseman as their potential breakout player in the 2024 season. A 24-year-old native of Aliso Viejo, California selected first overall by the Twins in the 2017 MLB Amateur Draft, Lewis has been impressive when healthy, but has been plagued by injuries during the last two seasons. He hit .309 with 15 home runs and 52 RBI in just 58 games last year. Extrapolating his career averages through his first 70 games in 2022 and 2023, Lewis would average 35 home runs and 100 RBI in a 150-game season.

Ranked as a top-100 prospect in baseball every year since 2018, Lewis has also hit well in the minor leagues. He has a career .273 batting average to go along with 41 home runs and 178 RBI in 350 games with the Twins' minor league affiliates.

Gunnar Henderson (Baltimore Orioles)

Gunnar Henderson, a third baseman and shortstop with the Baltimore Orioles, is another popular breakout candidate in 2024. He led all players in the MLB executives poll with five votes as the breakout player of the year. A second-round pick of the Orioles in the 2019 MLB Amateur Draft, Henderson won American League (AL) Rookie of the Year in 2023 after hitting .255 to go along with 28 home runs and 82 RBI in 150 games. He also finished eighth in AL MVP voting.

Vinnie Pasquantino (Kansas City Royals)

One of three Royals players selected by MLB executives to have a breakout season in 2024, Vinnie Pasquantino finished second behind Henderson with four votes. The 26-year-old first baseman and designated hitter, selected by the Royals in the 11th round of the 2019 MLB Amateur Draft, hit .247 with nine home runs and 26 RBI in 61 games in 2023.

Anthony Volpe (New York Yankees)

Anthony Volpe, who received a pair of votes in the MLB executives poll, is a 22-year-old shortstop with the New York Yankees. A first-round pick in the 2019 MLB Amateur Draft, Volpe finished eighth in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2023 after hitting .209 to go along with 21 home runs, 60 RBI, and 24 stolen bases. He hit .314 in 18 spring training games before the 2024 season.