Not all breakout seasons are created equal. With that in mind, it's time to take a look at the MLB players who took the biggest steps forward in 2022 to decide who made the leap to stardom — and who still has more to prove.

To decide who graduated to stardom this season, we enlisted ESPN MLB writers David Schoenfield and Jeff Passan to break down 18 candidates with Schoenfield making the case for each emerging player and Judge Jeff rendering a final verdict.

 

The budding aces

Max Fried

Schoenfield's case: Wait, Fried didn't graduate a year ago? OK, maybe we're a year late on him, but there's no doubt Fried is now a bona fide ace and the Braves will feel as confident starting him in a big playoff game as the Mets would with Max Scherzer or Jacob deGrom or the Astros with Justin Verlander.

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Fried has improved in a few areas in 2022: He has lowered his walk rate, lowered his home run rate and increased his chase rate. The overall package is a strike-throwing lefty who doesn't make many mistakes and induces weak contact. And don't forget that the last time we saw him in the postseason, he tossed six scoreless innings in the clinching Game 6 of the World Series.

Judge Jeff's verdict: Can't argue with anything here. Fried's fastball velocity is steady, so there's no sign of regression with his stuff. His groundball rate never has been below 50%. His average start has jumped to more than six innings per. He's that guy.

 

Dylan Cease

Schoenfield's case: The stuff is certainly all-world with a high-spin 97 mph heater and wipeout slider at which batters swing and miss nearly 50% of the time. There's a reason he nearly no-hit the Twins on Saturday and has held batters to a .185 average and .301 slugging percentage — both marks in the top four for major league starters. But what cements his place on this list is his all-universe 'stache. It's 1980s-level quality, and while I'd like to say Cease is a throwback, the truth is that pitchers in the 1980s weren't throwing this level of unhittable fastballs and sliders. Cease didn't get that no-hitter, but I suspect he'll get one or two at some point and with Verlander currently sidelined, Cease is suddenly back in the running for Cy Young honors.

Judge Jeff's verdict: Respect the lip sweater. And the stuff. Ace all the way.