MLB's 2024 All-Breakout Team, Mid-May Edition

One of the biggest storylines of each new MLB season is the handful of unexpected breakout performers who go from afterthoughts to impact players.

Welcome to Bleacher Report's 2024 MLB All-Breakout Team.

The idea here is to focus on players who have achieved a level of success they previously hadn't approached. Since that means focusing on guys who have MLB experience prior to this year, no rookies were eligible to be included.

The All-Breakout Team will be updated throughout the season, so these picks are by no means set in stone.

Stats: 87 PA, 165 OPS+, .354/.379/.585, 9 XBH (5 HR), 14 RBI, 1.0 WAR

Connor Wong was a 2.2-WAR player in 2023, but his value came largely from his work behind the plate. He hit .235 with an 80 OPS+ and nine home runs in 403 plate appearances.

He looked more like a placeholder until top prospect Kyle Teel is ready than anything else entering the year, but he has raised his profile with a hot start at the plate. His batted-ball metrics don't jump off the page, so there could be some regression going forward, but he has done a nice job trimming his strikeout rate from 33.3 to 21.8 percent.

The 27-year-old is the Boston Red Sox's last player left in the return package from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Mookie Betts.

Stats: 124 PA, 136 OPS+, .288/.363/.450, 12 XBH (3 HR), 15 RBI, 0.6 WAR

Cleveland Guardians slugger Josh Naylor was a tempting pick here, but he posted a 132 OPS+ with 31 doubles, 17 home runs and 97 RBI last season while receiving some down-ballot AL MVP support.

Instead, the nod goes to Connor Joe.

The 31-year-old entered the 2024 season with a 100 OPS+ over 1,166 career plate appearances, and he seemed to be destined for a part-time role after Rowdy Tellez was added in free agency to man first base.

However, with Tellez struggling early, Joe has carved out a more regular role. He has split his time between first base (103.0 INN), right field (95.1 INN) and left field (30.0 INN) while giving the Pittsburgh offense a nice boost.

Stats: 135 PA, 135 OPS+, .314/.378/.438, 11 XBH (2 HR), 13 RBI, 15 SB, 1.8 WAR

Brice Turang was one of baseball's best defensive second basemen as a rookie last season, logging elite defensive metrics (12 DRS, 5.2 UZR/150) en route to a 1.6-WAR debut. However, his offensive game lagged behind.

The 2018 first-round pick hit a punchless .218/.285/.300 for a 62 OPS+ with only 18 extra-base hits in 448 plate appearances. His hold on the starting second base job entering the year was tenuous at best.

With modest improvements to his average exit velocity (85.5 to 89.5 mph) and hard-hit rate (26.0 to 32.7 percent), Turang's offensive numbers are up across the board. He is also putting his terrific speed to good use with a perfect 15-for-15 showing on stolen base attempts.

Stats: 105 PA, 178 OPS+, .348/.417/.533, 9 XBH (3 HR), 8 RBI, 3 SB, 1.3 WAR

This was the toughest decision of any position. There is a compelling case to be made for both Jordan Westburg (Baltimore Orioles) and Josh Smith (Texas Rangers) being the breakout pick at the hot corner.

However, it's tough to argue with the .417 on-base percentage and 178 OPS+ that Josh Rojas has posted to begin his first full season with the Seattle Mariners.

The 29-year-old was acquired in the deal that sent closer Paul Sewald to the Arizona Diamondbacks at last year's trade deadline. While he has shown a nice mix of extra-base pop and speed in the past, he has developed into a more complete hitter.

His walk rate is up (7.7 to 10.5 percent), his strikeout rate is down (23.1 to 18.1 percent) and even with some inevitable regression to come based on his .414 batting average on balls in play, he has still been an early standout for a lackluster Seattle offense.

Stats: 152 PA, 153 OPS+, .272/.338/.537, 18 XBH (7 HR), 20 RBI, 8 SB, 1.3 WAR

Shortstop CJ Abrams established himself as an everyday player in his first full season with the Washington Nationals last year after coming over from the San Diego Padres in the Juan Soto blockbuster. He tallied 52 extra-base hits, 47 steals and 3.4 WAR in 151 games.

However, Abrams hit just .245/.300/.412 for a 96 OPS+ in 614 plate appearances last season. His production to date this year is a major step forward.

It was tempting to give the shortstop nod to Elly De La Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds. But he was so hyped when he first arrived in the majors and his progress has been so widely recognized on a national level that he doesn't fit the same mold as the other breakout players featured here.

Stats: 161 PA, 151 OPS+, .254/.373/.515, 16 XBH (9 HR), 17 RBI, 2.2 WAR

Outfielder Riley Greene was the No. 5 overall pick in the 2019 draft, and he climbed as high as the No. 4 prospect in baseball at the start of the 2022 season. It has long seemed like only a matter of time before he emerged as a star.

Greene made modest improvements across the board in his second season in the big leagues last year, hitting .288/.349/.447 for a 117 OPS+ in 99 games. However, he still struggled to consistently get to his raw power with only 34 extra-base hits and 11 home runs.

This season, Greene has nearly doubled his walk rate (8.4 to 15.5 percent). The 23-year-old has already eclipsed his WAR total from last year, and he ranks among the MLB leaders in average exit velocity (89th percentile), hard-hit rate (82nd percentile), barrel rate (100th percentile) and expected slugging (96th percentile).

Greene is quickly emerging as the face of the franchise in Detroit.

Stats: 154 PA, 171 OPS+, .328/.409/.522, 14 XBH (6 HR), 27 RBI, 1.2 WAR

Prior to the 2013 season, Jurickson Profar was ranked as the No. 1 prospect in baseball while climbing the minor league ranks in the Texas Rangers system. Although he never lived up to the hype in Texas, he has found some sporadic success in his career.

Profar entered the 2024 season with 4.8 WAR over 961 career games spanning 10 seasons.

After flopping on a one-year deal with the Colorado Rockies last year, he found his way back to the San Diego Padres late in the season. He then rejoined the team on a one-year, $1 million deal during the offseason.

That's shaping up to be one of the biggest steals of the winter. Profar's 171 OPS+ so far this season is tied for eighth among all qualified hitters.

Stats: 146 PA, 121 OPS+, .246/.329/.431, 15 XBH (4 HR), 15 RBI, 1.0 WAR

JJ Bleday hit .347/.465/.701 with 27 home runs and 72 RBI in 71 games during a breakout junior season at Vanderbilt in 2019 before going No. 4 overall in that year's draft to the Miami Marlins.

After struggling in the minors and in his first taste of the big leagues in 2022, he was traded to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for fellow former top prospect A.J. Puk prior to last season. He hit .195 with 11 doubles, 10 home runs and 27 RBI in 303 plate appearances in 2023, but he still managed to win the starting center field job this spring.

The A's are off to a better-than-expected start this year, and Bleday is a big reason why their offense has been clicking. With club control through the 2028 season, he has a chance to be a long-term piece or a valuable trade chip.

Tip of the cap to Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Blake Perkins, who just missed the cut for a spot in the All-Breakout Team outfield.

Stats: 7 GS, 3-3, 1.99 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 7 BB, 46 K, 45.1 IP, 1.5 WAR

Right-hander Tanner Houck was the No. 24 overall pick in the 2017 draft, drawing comparisons to a young Max Scherzer for both their shared alma mater (University of Missouri) and their similar mechanics and arm slot.

After debuting with a bang in 2020, Houck showed flashes of frontline potential, but he struggled to find consistent success while bouncing between the rotation and bullpen and dealing with some injury issues.

The 27-year-old is thriving in the early going this season, attacking hitters with his terrific slider and his heavy sinker. He has already turned in a signature performance when he needed only 94 pitches to toss a three-hit shutout against the Cleveland Guardians on April 17.

With an AL-best 2.08 FIP and an elite 46-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio, his breakout looks like the real deal.

Stats: 8 GS, 2-1, 1.75 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 15 BB, 46 K, 46.1 IP, 2.3 WAR

Not to be outdone by teammate Tanner Houck, right-hander Kutter Crawford is having a fantastic breakout season of his own for the Boston Red Sox.

The 28-year-old quietly had a productive first full season in the majors last year, posting a 4.04 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 135 strikeouts in 129.1 innings while making 23 starts and eight relief appearances.

A 16th-round pick in the same 2017 draft class where Houck was the team's first-round selection, Crawford has yet to allow more than three earned runs in a start this season. He is riding a run of four straight quality starts en route to an AL-best 1.75 ERA.

His 2.3 WAR leads all pitchers and ranks seventh in the majors.

Stats: 7 GS, 4-0, 2.23 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 20 BB, 41 K, 44.1 IP, 2.0 WAR

Right-hander Ronel Blanco provided one of the season's first major highlights when he no-hit the Toronto Blue Jays in his first start of the year on April 1. He followed that up with 5.2 more no-hit innings in his next start.

He has leveled off a bit since that red-hot start, logging a 3.38 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in 29.1 innings over his last five starts, but he remains one of the biggest surprises of the season. He only earned a spot in the Opening Day rotation because Justin Verlander and José Urquidy started the year on the injured list.

The 30-year-old entered the season with only 24 MLB appearances under his belt, but he has proven to be a late-bloomer and one of the few bright spots for a struggling Houston Astros team.

Stats: 7 GS, 4-0, 1.96 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 12 BB, 30 K, 36.2 IP, 1.6 WAR

Trevor Williams looked like a potential building block in the starting rotation for the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 2018 season when he finished 14-10 with a 3.11 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 126 strikeouts in 170.2 innings.

However, he failed to match that level of success in subsequent seasons and spent time with the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets before landing with the Washington Nationals on a two-year, $13 million deal last offseason to serve as a low-cost veteran innings eater.

Williams went 6-10 with a 5.55 ERA in 144.1 innings spanning 30 starts last year, giving up an NL-high 34 home runs along the way.

There is nothing drastically different about the way he is attacking hitters this year. He has simply done a better job keeping the ball in the ballpark with zero home runs allowed over his first 36.2 innings.

Stats: 8 GS, 3-1, 2.30 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 16 BB, 35 K, 43.0 IP, 1.2 WAR

Following the success that Michael Lorenzen and Seth Lugo have had in recent seasons after making a late-career move from the bullpen to a starting role, Jordan Hicks inked a four-year, $44 million deal with the San Francisco Giants with an eye on a similar transition.

The flamethrower posted a 3.29 ERA and 11.1 K/9 with 12 saves and 13 holds in 65 appearances out of the bullpen for the Cardinals and Blue Jays last season, but he did start eight games in 2022.

He has dialed back his velocity (100.1 to 95.4 mph) on his sinker while ramping up the usage of his splitter, which has limited opposing hitters to an .083 average and generated a 42.4 percent whiff rate. That approach has been a recipe for success over his first eight starts in a Giants uniform.

A quick honorable mention nod to Javier Assad (Chicago Cubs), Erick Fedde (Chicago White Sox), Reynaldo López (Atlanta Braves), Bryce Miller (Seattle Mariners) and Reese Olson (Detroit Tigers). Narrowing the list of breakout starting pitchers to only five was not an easy task.

Stats: 13 G, 8/8 SV, 1.10 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 4 BB, 33 K, 16.1 IP, 1.1 WAR

Armed with a high-octane fastball that averages 100.8 mph and a lethal slider that has limited opposing hitters to an .074 average while generating a 43.9 percent whiff rate, Mason Miller has been arguably the most dominant pitcher in baseball this year.

The 6'5", 200-pound right-hander has struck out 33 of the 60 batters he has faced while limiting opposing hitters to a .125 average and .362 OPS overall.

He surpassed rookie eligibility limits last year based on his days spent on the active roster, which makes him eligible for a spot on our All-Breakout team.

A quick shoutout to Lucas Erceg (Oakland A's), Reed Garrett (New York Mets), Bryan Hudson (Milwaukee Brewers), Cole Sands (Minnesota Twins), Justin Slaten (Boston Red Sox), Cade Smith (Cleveland Guardians) and Ryan Walker (San Francisco Giants), all of whom deserve an honorable mention.