Top 5 Comeback Player of the Year Candidates

Injuries are a part of baseball. Sometimes, the best players in the game are forced to the sidelines, derailing a great career or season. It happened in 2024 and it'll happen again in 2025.

And while we can't predict who'll be bit by the injury bug in the coming year, we can forecast who could make the biggest comebacks from it.

With the help of The Athletic, we take a look at our Top 5 Comeback Player of the Year candidates.

1. Sandy Alcantara, Miami Marlins

A full 18 months removed from Tommy John surgery by Opening Night, the former Cy Young winner (2022) is poised to bounce back in a big way. With two All-Star nods and a 3.32 career ERA, reports say that he's throwing 99 mph with elite control this spring thus far.

2. Shane McClanahan, Tampa Bay Rays

An All-Star twice in his three seasons as the Rays ace, McClanahan also hasn't pitched since 2023, and is even further removed, by a couple of months, from Tommy John than Alcantara. The 27-year-old has a 33-16 mark in the majors, with a 3.02 ERA.

“Mac looks great," says Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander. "Physically, mentally, emotionally. Can’t wait for him to take the ball Opening Day."

3. Ronald Acuna Jr., Atlanta Braves

That's two torn ACLs (one in each knee) over the past four years for Acuna. Last season, he made it through just 49 games in following up his MVP season of 2023.

Acuna was held back a bit in 2022 in his first comeback from ACL surgery, playing only 119 games, and posting just a .764 OPS. Now that he's been through this whole 'comeback' thing once before, he may be more aware of how to handle it this time around.

4. Spencer Strider, Atlanta Braves

Acuna's Braves teammate was coming off a Cy Young-worthy season (finishing 4th in 2023) last year, when he blew out his elbow in just his second start. For the second time in his career, Strider underwent Tommy John surgery (the other time was in college, in 2019). How will he bounce back from his second TJ? The Braves will start him out slowly, and he likely won't return to the mound until late April or early May.

5. Matt McLain, Cincinnati Reds

The top-5 finisher in Rookie of the Year balloting from 2023, McLain batted .290 with a .357 on-base percentage and an .864 OPS that season in 89 games before a shoulder injury knocked him out for the entire 2024 season. This guy knows how to hit, and should get right back to doing his thing near the top of the Reds order.

Names we left off the list:

Jacob deGrom
Mike Trout

Make no mistake, if we suspected that these guys could stay healthy, they'd be at the very top of this list. But the last several years they have only proven that they will miss significant parts of the year.

In Trout's last five seasons, he's played 29 games, 82, 119, 36 and 53 games.

For deGrom, he's started 9 games total over the past two seasons, and hasn't started more than 15 games since 2019.