The 2025 Major League Baseball (MLB) season has come to a close, but it was full of action and competitive play that will be remembered. From the pre-season to the regular season to the finale of the postseason, baseball continues to excite fans from around the world.
Starting in spring training, the new Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System was implemented in certain stadiums. With this, teams had two challenges per game for ball or strike calls, and successful challenges were retained. The system wasn’t used during the 2025 regular season, but just recently, it’s been confirmed for the 2026 MLB season. Opinions on it vary throughout the MLB fanbase.
Taylor Jakubchak (12), a baseball player at Spartanburg High School and an MLB fan, supports the ABS System and thinks it would be beneficial to the sport.
“I think it should be used. Umpires seem to be getting worse over the years, and if the system is used, then an umpire will not dictate the outcome of a game,” Jakubchak said
In the regular season, many teams that were expected to dominate did just that, while some others came out of nowhere and became serious playoff contenders. Teams like the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers met their high expectations, while dark horse teams like the Detroit Tigers, the Milwaukee Brewers and the Seattle Mariners surprised many fans with their success.
Charlie McCrory (10), a Spartan High baseball player and Yankees fan, acknowledges the Yankees’ success, but also notes that the season had flaws.
“They really struggled in the summer months and were not playing good baseball. The roster was very good, and the players had good years overall, but I feel like they just need to be more consistent from April to October,” McCrory said.
Numerous players throughout the season had standout, stellar years. This included fan favorites like Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, but some players also rose to new levels, one of which being Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh. Raleigh already was a proficient player, but he took huge steps in 2025, putting up an MVP-caliber season.
Charlie Klosterman (9), a Mariners fan, noted some statistics and accomplishments of Raleigh.
“Cal Raleigh is a platinum glove-winning catcher and hit 60 home runs in the regular season. He set the record for the most home runs for both a catcher and switch-hitter this year,” Klosterman said.
The MLB just finished off an incredible season with an even more exciting postseason. Starting with the first round, the Wild Card Series, four sets of two teams went head-to-head in three-game battles, with the winner moving on to the Divisional Series. This series was highlighted by the games between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, two teams who share one of the longest rivalries in all of sports. In the Divisional Series, the Mariners, Dodgers, Brewers and Toronto Blue Jays came out victorious, advancing to their respective league’s Championship Series.
In the National League Championship Series, the Dodgers ended up sweeping the Brewers four games to none. On the other hand, the American League Championship Series featured a completely different sequence of events, with the Mariners and the Blue Jays battling through all seven games and the Blue Jays coming out on top.
The big finale, the World Series, featured a vicious duel between the Dodgers and the Blue Jays. The two teams went back and forth throughout the entire series, highlighted by an 18-inning battle for Game 3 and multiple dominant performances by Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The series came down to Game 7, where the Dodgers came out on top.
The 2025 MLB season is over, but excitement for the 2026 season is already building up.
