One of the more interesting questions to answer at the midway point of the baseball season is who is MLB’s most improved player in 2024? MLB continues to entertain us with an influx of young stars and players who struggled one year but look like an all-star the next year.

In other words, there are always players who show a ton of improvement from the previous year.

Most Improved MLB Players in 2024

Frankly, we could spend all day arguing over who is MLB’s most improved player in 2024. There have been so many players having breakout seasons and leaving their mark.

While we’re certain to miss someone, we wanted to highlight five players who are among the most improved players in MLB this season.

Reynaldo Lopez

Nobody saw this coming from Reynaldo Lopez. At age 30, he has put everything together and become one of the best starting pitchers in baseball. He wasn’t even a starting pitcher heading into the season. Lopez started 33 games in 2019, posting a 5.38 ERA.

He started just 20 total games since then, only to become the star of Atlanta’s rotation, going 7-3 with a 1.88 ERA during the first half of the season. That’s the lowest ERA of any starting pitcher in the majors this season.

Not only is Lopez one of the most improved players in baseball this year but he’s very much in the Cy Young discussion.

Mark Vientos

Before the season, we had Francisco Alvarez of the Mets pegged as one of our breakout candidates. Instead, Mark Vientos has become the breakout star of the Mets in 2024. Vientos has always had great power and impressive numbers in the minors, although he struggled to turn that into success in the big leagues when he’s gotten a chance over the last two seasons.

However, when the Mets gave him the opportunity to be the everyday third baseman toward the end of May, Vientos took the opportunity and ran with it. In just 51 games this season, Vientos has 12 homers and 11 doubles while batting .291 and posting an OPS of .896. If he had been playing every day since the start of the season, he’d probably be an all-star and the Mets might not have been as bad as they were in May.

Tanner Houck

The Red Sox couldn’t be more pleased with what they’ve seen from Tanner Houck this year. The former first-round pick was 6-10 with a 5.01 ERA in 21 starts last year. But it’s been a completely different story this year.

In his 19 starts at the all-star break, Houck has already surpassed last year’s inning total while pitching to a 2.54 ERA. The contrast from last season to this season has almost been too good to be true, helping to make Houck an all-star. The best part for Boston is that Houck is making just $770,000 this year, so he’s also helping them avoid a luxury tax penalty. 

Logan O’Hoppe

Not only has Logan O’Hoppe been one of baseball’s most-improved players but he’s also among the leading Comeback Player of the Year candidates. A torn labrum cost him a big chunk of last season, putting his future somewhat in doubt.

However, the 24-year-old has hit .276 with 14 home runs during the first half of the season. A mere 23rd-round draft pick once upon a time, O’Hoppe is proving to be one of the best hitting catchers in baseball. He’s more or less announced himself as the catcher of the future for the Angels, an organization that needs some good news.

Ronel Blanco

For Ronel Blanco, the season began with a no-hitter and he’s somehow managed to continue that upward trajectory despite a 10-game suspension in May. In his first 18 starts, Blanco is 9-4 with a 2.56 ERA, somehow missing out on being an all-star.

This is a guy who hadn’t even started pitching until he was 18 and didn’t get to the big leagues until he was 28. Blanco hadn’t shown a ton of promise in brief stints in the big leagues over the past two seasons. But he’s now a fixture in Houston’s rotation and is among MLB’s most-improved players in 2024.