Windup readers' top 10 MLB stories of 2025. Plus: Christmas week catch-up
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It’s a special year-end edition of the Windup: We have the 10 stories you found the most interesting (or at least clickable), both overall and each month. Plus, we’ll try to catch you up on everything that happened over Christmas week in the links. I’m Levi Weaver, welcome to The Windup!
Countdown: Prospects, rankings, All-Stars and a bizarre home run
Let’s start with Nos. 10 through 4 of The Windup’s most-clicked stories this year:
10. Trevor Story’s weird Pesky Pole home run: It only went 306 feet. It bounced off Jhonkensy Noel’s glove, then the right-field pole at Fenway Park, then the glove again, then into the stands. That’s technically a home run, even if it feels a lot more like a pinball fever dream.
9. All the picks from Day 1 of the 2025 draft: This tracks. You need to know who your team is going to be relying on in 2028.
8. What rival evaluators were saying about Yankees prospect George Lombard Jr.: The kid got off to a blazing start in High A. “He’s not going to be (at High A) for long,” said one scout after that 22-game stretch. Two games later, Lombard was in Double A, where he hit .215 (.695 OPS) in 108 games. He’s 20, there’s time.
7. MLB insiders rank starting pitchers: Andy McCullough, Will Sammon and others talked to a panel of 20 experts to determine which pitchers were aces, reliable workhorses and “just a guy.” They got it right, too. The top two spots went to this year’s Cy Young winners (Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes).
6. Ken Rosenthal’s early-July predictions for the All-Star rosters: Say what you will about the shortcomings of the Summer Classic: People still care a lot about it, and it’s still the best All-Star Game in pro sports, hands down. The actual game ended up being a banger, too. Tied 6-6 after nine innings, we got our first “swing-off,” with Kyle Schwarber banging three home runs to give the NL a 4-3 edge (thus technically winning the game 7-6).
5. New Era Texas Rangers hat bearing accidental Spanish vulgarity disappears from online shop: It’s still funny.
4. Putting the top 100 position players into tiers: This came just before Opening Day: Tyler Kepner, Aaron Gleeman and Eno Sarris dropped their top 100 position players. This one didn’t quite nail the 2025 season in advance — Gunnar Henderson and Mookie Betts both endured extended slumps, and AL MVP Cal Raleigh was listed at Tier 3 — but I think that’s within the forgivable margin. If you saw Raleigh hitting 60 home runs back in March, raise your hand so we can identify the liars in the chat.
3, 2, 1: Disaster, prospect rankings and an exclusive interview
Now presenting the three most popular baseball stories of 2025, based on what Windup readers clicked … 🥁🥁🥁
3. The recap of Orion Kerkering’s season-ending gaffe: As I said the day after this happened, Phillies fans: Do not click that link. Dodgers fans, you either. You’ve had enough good times over the last two years; don’t be greedy. Nobody click that link.
2. Keith Law’s top 100 prospects: I’m not sure if these clicks were all from the first day I posted about it, or if they were compiled from all the times I went back to reference it throughout the year, but either way: It’s an essential tool every year when prospects are called up or traded.
And finally …
1. Sam Blum’s interview with former Twins prospect Derek Bender, who was accused of telling hitters what was coming: It was a shocking story when it first came out, but Blum was the first reporter to get a full interview with Bender, back in February. It was an amazing read, and if you somehow missed it at the time, I’m glad I get to tell you about it now.
In Other Words: Our most-clicked by month
Sometimes it’s fun to see the numbers through a different light: Here were the newsletter’s most-clicked stories each month.
January: Keith Law’s top 100.
February: Sam Blum’s Bender interview.
March: Those position player tiers.
April: Max Fried took the mound in the ninth with a no-hitter intact. Before the first pitch of the inning, the no-hitter was over.
May: The evaluators on Lombard Jr.
June: Our player poll was clear: Nobody wanted to play for the A’s. Here’s who the players said they’d rather play for.
July: Rosenthal’s All-Star Game rosters.
August: Willson Contreras was ejected and threw a bat, and people needed to know details.
September: Story’s Pesky Pole ricochet home run.
October: Again, Phillies fans: do. not. click. this. link.
November: Zack Meisel’s in-depth reporting on the details of the gambling scandal in Cleveland.
December: Bryce Harper’s weird blood treatment.
Handshakes and High Fives
It’s a favorite annual tradition: Jayson Stark’s two-part end-of-year recap of the weirdness of baseball. First up: the most Strange But True moments of 2025. And second: the most bizarre injuries of 2025, including a Target run that went haywire.
Speaking of annual traditions: Tyler Kepner’s annual quiz is here. Good luck.
Bryce Harper is the latest star to join Team USA’s roster for the 2026 WBC.
Signings and trades: Tyler Soderstrom (seven-year extension, A’s), Pete Fairbanks (one year, Marlins), Ryan O’Hearn (two years, Pirates), Jacob Webb (one year, Cubs), Hunter Harvey (also one-year deal, Cubs), Zach Eflin (one year, back to the Orioles) and Jeff McNeil (traded from Mets to A’s).
And in memorabilia you can’t afford: A Honus Wagner T-206 is leaving a family after 116 years, and the Shohei Ohtani 50/50 ball is still involved in litigation.
Most-clicked in our last newsletter: We have a three-time winner, and it’s Ron Washington’s first-base comment from “Moneyball.” You guys, it’s literally just an eight-second YouTube clip. I want to direct you to click something else, but also: This is funny, so keep the bit going if you want to. I’m not your dad.
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