Things to like -- and dislike -- about MLB in 2025

With the Major League Baseball season at the All-Star Break, there are, as always, things to smile about, and things to scoff at.Actually, that actually describes being a Cleveland Guardians fan pretty well.How does a team go from losing 10 in a row to immediately sweeping the first-place Houston Astros?I don't know.But baseball is a sport that has – especially in recent years, delighted and frustrated me at the same time.So now, with MLB and Triple A teams on a four0day hiatus (and with big league teams having played nearly 100 games), here's a list of things I like, and don't like, about the 2025 baseball season. Something to like: The realization that Jose Ramirez is a Hall of Famer.Everyone who watches the Guardians regularly knows, and has known, how great of a player Jose Ramirez is.He hits for average, he hits for power and he plays a strong third base.Some say that Ramirez is underrated, but I'm not so sure he is. He was voted into tonight's All-Star Game (he's made seven in his career) and is generally feared by opposing pitchers.But this is the first year that I've heard opposing announcers refer to Ramirez as a "future Hall of Famer."It's almost as if a memo went out this season, because he is usually introduced that way now.There's every reason to believe Ramirez will make Cooperstown. He's a .280 lifetime hitter, has 273 homers and 272 stolen bases and he won't be 33 until September.And, of course, he's played his entire career in Cleveland, even taking a below market contract from the club to stay there.The Guardians season has been a big disappointment, but Ramirez is someone who is always worth watching.Something to dislike: The lack of action in games.A few weeks ago in Houston, a friend and I went to game at Daikin Park.The Astros and Phillies were playing, and Houston won 1-0 on a Cooper Hummel home run in the eighth inning.The Astros and Phillies combined for just nine hits but struck out 14 times.The next day, my friend said that game must have went about three hours.But according to the box score, it was just two hours and 11 minutes.The leaders in baseball have put a premium on shortening games, and that's happened. With the pitch clock – instituted -- in 2023, it's rare to see a game go three hours. The problem, though, is the lack of action.The overall league batting average is .245, and it hasn't been above .250 since 2019. Last year, the league batting average was .243, the lowest since the Year of the Pitcher in 1968.Baseball has improved itself in the last few years, but too many games drag with too little contact and too many strikeouts.Something to like: Aaron Judge's season.I know, it's tough to like something a New York Yankee is doing.But in an era where many power hitters have trouble keeping their average above .230, Judge is leading the league in hitting, at .355. But he also has 35 homers and 81 RBIs.He's a can't miss at-bat, even if, as someone who doesn't like the Yankees, I have trouble pulling for him.Something to dislike: The Athletics in Sacramento.The Athletics, who spent 56 years in Oakland, winning four World Championships and six pennants there, are now playing in a minor league stadium in Sacramento.The team doesn't even have a city attached to it right now. They are just "Athletics."In music, one name can work. Look at Madonna, or Prince.But they had hits.The Athletics are 41-57, last in the AL West. Eventually, the A's are supposed to move to Las Vegas. But I'll believe it when I see it. Right now, I'm just sad for the fans in Oakland, and even the fans in Sacramento.There's little reason to be loyal to a club playing hopscotch.Something to like: Watching Tarik Skubal pitch.The Tigers are in first place and are blowing away the competition in the rest of the AL Central.To this day, I'm still not sure how the Guardians beat the Tigers ace in Game 5 of the Division Series a year ago.Over the last two seasons, Skubal is 28-7 and helped push the Tigers to a remarkable playoff run in 2024.He threw a complete game shutout against Cleveland earlier this year, making Guards hitters look absolutely helpless.Most hitters feel that way against Skubal, who will start the All-Star Game tonight.While I generally don't cheer for the Tigers, I am happy for their fans. Another postseason run is a certainty, and after a long rebuilding process, it's nice to see their loyalty rewarded.Something to dislike: The decline of the starting pitcher.In 1986, I was six-years old and was excited about the All-Star Game.The Tribe was playing – by 1980s Cleveland Indians standards – good baseball. Cleveland also had a pair of all-stars, in starting pitcher Ken Schrom and third baseman Brook Jacoby.Schrom had an eight-year career – he also pitched for the Blue Jays and the Twins – and was out of baseball a year later.The '86 selection was his only all-star appearance.His numbers weren't outstanding, but he did go to the Astrodome (where the Midsummer Classic was held that year) with a 10-2 record and a mostly-respectable 4.17 earned run average.His second half wasn't as good, and his ERA ballooned to 4.54 by season's end.But he ended up with four complete games that season.In the entire league in 2025, there have been 23 complete games.The Guardians only have one, and that was in Sacramento, when Tanner Bibee threw eight innings in a loss to the A's. Cleveland didn't have a complete game in 2024.Baseball has some outstanding pitchers, like Skubal, Paul Skenes and the Phillies Zack Wheeler.But it's beginning to feel like a major accomplishment if a pitcher is allowed to go past the fifth inning.I'd like to see MLB incentivize starting pitching.Maybe it can limit the number of relievers a team can use in a game.Maybe it can implement the double hook, where a team loses the designated hitter when a pitcher is removed.Baseball was better when pitchers were allowed to pitch a game, not just half of it.