MLB Hitter Power Rankings: Who are baseball's best sluggers ahead of the 2025 season?

Major League Baseball might be dominated by pitchers heading into the 2025 regular season, but there are few things as entertaining as watching a great hitter.

A handful of players had hot streaks for the ages during the 2024 season while some other elite batters had their respective campaigns derailed by injuries.

From veterans looking to build upon their Hall of Fame resumes to rising stars looking to cement themselves alongside the game's biggest names, we have the top 10 hitters in MLB heading into the 2025 season.

Honorable Mentions

• Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts
• Boston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers
• New York Mets shorstop Francisco Lindor
• Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran
• Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez
• Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte
• Atlanta Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna
• Athletics outfielder Brent Rooker
• San Diego Padres first baseman/designated hitter Luis Arraez
• Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman

10. Bryce Harper

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper is the heart and soul of his team, and the two-time NL MVP will be counted on once again to lead the Phillies offense.

Last season, Harper had 157 hits, 42 doubles, 30 home runs, 87 RBI, and a 76/138 walk-strikeout ratio while slashing .285/.373/.525 in 145 games. His 4.3 offensive bWAR was his best since his MVP-winning 2021 season.

This season, Harper will be 32, meaning that he likely will not be as active on the basepaths as he was during his last MVP campaign. But if he can get his home run total back up to the mid-30s and increase his walk rate, he could be an MVP contender once again.

9. Yordan Alvarez

Houston Astros leftfielder/designated hitter Yordan Alvarez is the epitome of consistency at the plate. He has hit between 31 and 37 home runs in each of the last four seasons, and has had between 86 and 104 RBIs each year in that span.

Turning 28 in June, Alvarez is in his prime years. His 5.9 offensive bWAR in 2024 was the second-best of his career, and he ranked second in average bat speed (76.6 MPH), 10th in average exit velocity (93.1 MPH) and fourth in xwOBA, or expected weighted on-base average (.411).

Alvarez hits for power and puts runs on the board, but he also is one of the most disciplined hitters in the league. He slashed .308/.392/.567 last season and walked 69 times, which put his walk rate at 10.9 percent (27th in MLB).

8. Ronald Acuna Jr.

Fans haven't seen Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. in action in almost a year, but in his last full season, he won the NL MVP with 217 hits, 149 runs scored, 41 HRs, 106 RBI, an MLB single-season record 73 stolen bases, and a .337/.416/.596 slash line.

He'll be coming off an ACL injury and will have a late start to the 2025 campaign, but the Braves will be thrilled to have him back. His presence greatly raises the team's ceiling in a crowded NL East division.

Acuna hasn't always been consistent, though. In his second season in 2019, he had a 5.2 bWAR, but he did not post a bWAR over 4.0 in the next four seasons until he broke that streak with his monster 8.4 bWAR MVP-winning season.

His stolen base totals may dip as he ramps up after the injury, but if his track record is any indication, he'll still be able to impact games in multiple ways. In 2023, he led MLB in xwOBA, bat speed and average exit velocity, and he finished fourth in hard-hit percentage.

7. Mike Trout

Lots of people are counting out Los Angeles Angels outfielder and three-time AL MVP Mike Trout, and it's understandable to see why. He has played more than 100 games just once in the last five years.

But think about what he does when he's healthy. He hit 10 home runs in just 29 games played in 2024, and he's never posted a bWAR below 6.0 in seasons where he's reached the 100-game mark.

Plus, the last time Trout had an OPS below .850 in a season was in 2011, when he played 40 games as a 19-year-old. He's never had an OPS below .935 in a season where he's played at least 100 games. Among all hitters in 2024, he was eighth in xwOBA and 13th in barrel percentage.

His move to rightfield might help him stay in the lineup, and every baseball fan should hope to see a fully healthy Mike Trout for at least one more season.

6. Gunnar Henderson

In 95 games before the 2024 All-Star break, Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson had 108 hits, 18 doubles, five triples, 28 homers, 63 RBI, 14 stolen bases and 47 walks with a .286/.373/.584 slash line. Baltimore went 57-38 in that span.

In 64 games after the break, he had 69 hits, 40 runs scored 13 doubles, two triples, nine home runs, 29 RBI, seven stolen bases and 31 walks while hitting .273/.352/.447. His power took a big dip, and the O's only went 32-32 in those contests.

The Orioles enter this season focused on ensuring they can compete in October after early exits in the last two postseasons, but Henderson needs to stay consistent all year long.

He's only turning 24 in June so he has time on his side, yet he'll want to continue on the upward trajectory that he has been on since entering MLB. His underlying metrics are encouraging, as he ranked in the top 25 players last year in bat speed, chase rate and hard-hit percentage.

5. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. proved his value to his team last season — posting a 6.2 bWAR with 199 hits, 44 doubles, 30 homers, 103 RBI and a .323/.396/.544 slash line — and he'll be even more motivated in 2025 after the franchise failed to meet his demands in contract negotiations.

Vladdy Jr. will be a free agent next offseason as things stand, and given the fact he hasn't played less than 155 games since his 2019 rookie season (not counting pandemic-shortened 2020 season), he could command a huge contract.

Guerrero had a down year in 2023 with a 1.8 bWAR and .788 OPS, but if the 26-year-old plays like his 2024 self in 2025, he'll surely cash in.

In addition to his stellar standard stats, he is also a Statcast superstar as he ranks in the 95th percentile or higher in xwOBA, xBA, xSLG, average exit velocity, hard-hit rate, strikeout rate, and bat speed.

4. Bobby Witt Jr.

Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. caught fire in the second half of the season to such a degree that came within touching distance of eventual AL MVP winner Aaron Judge, despite Judge having separated himself from the pack with a legendary start to the season.

Witt Jr. led MLB with 211 hits and a .332 batting average, but he didn't sacrifice power as he hit 32 home runs with 45 doubles and 11 triples. He ranked 21st in bat speed (74.7 MPH) and 13th in average exit velocity (92.7), illustrating that he is a great decision-maker at the plate.

His 1.054 post-All-Star OPS from 2024 will be hard to repeat, especially as the Royals lineup does not provide much protection. The addition of Jonathan India may help, but the fact Witt put up those numbers without having anyone else in the lineup with a bWAR above 3.0 makes it all the more impressive.

3. Juan Soto

Newly-acquired New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto was the biggest prize of the offseason, and he landed the most expensive deal in MLB history thanks to his efforts with the New York Yankees in 2024.

He posted a career-high 7.9 bWAR and formed one of the greatest hitting partnerships of all time with Aaron Judge. While the Mets don't have anyone as good as Judge, the likes of Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso and Mark Vientos will make it hard for opposing pitchers to pitch around anyone in the heart of that lineup.

Soto will also be on the hunt for his first-ever MVP Award. He finished fifth in voting in 2020 with the Washington Nationals despite leading the NL in batting average and all of MLB in on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS in that shortened season.

Plus, he's entering his prime at just 26 years old and is one of the few players who can walk more than he strikes out throughout an entire season. Soto had the second-lowest chase rate but the 11th-fastest bat speed last season, meaning he is decisive in the batters box.

2. Shohei Ohtani

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani won the 2024 NL MVP Award despite not playing a single inning in the field, and his 9.2 bWAR was the NL's best despite the fact he was recovering from Tommy John surgery all season.

Ohtani is set to return to pitching in 2025 once his elbow heals, which could drive up his WAR rating. But here, we're focused on his bat.

He has posted an OPS above 1.000 in each of the past two seasons, and last year, he led MLB in runs scored (134) and led the NL in home runs (54), RBI (130), on-base percentage (.390), slugging percentage (.646) and OPS (1.036).

Ohtani also became a master of the basepaths, stealing 59 bases and only being caught four times as he looked for another way to impact games without being able to pitch. He will likely be less aggressive in terms of baserunning with him set to return to the mound, but even still, he is one of the most dangerous hitters in modern baseball.

The advanced stats confirm the eye test: Ohtani ranked second in hard-hit rate (60.1 percent), average exit velocity (95.8 MPH) and wOBA (.431) last season, finishing behind the next player on this list in each of those metrics.

1. Aaron Judge

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge has won two AL MVP Awards in the past three seasons. He posted a 10.8 bWAR in both those campaigns, ranking as the joint-21st-highest single-season bWAR ratings in league history.

He dealt with injuries in 2023, leading to a 4.6-bWAR season, but he still managed to post a monster 1.019 OPS in 106 games. In 2024, he led MLB in home runs (58), RBI (144), walks (133), on-base percentage (.458), slugging percentage (.701) and OPS (1.159).

Judge also led MLB in all those stats except for walks in his 2022 MVP-winning season. In both 2022 and 2024, he led all of MLB in hard-hit percentage, xwOBA, average exit velocity and barrel rate.

He turns 33 years old in late April and won't have Soto ahead of him in the batting order, but he didn't have any teammates with an OPS over .825 or an offensive bWAR over 3.1 in 2022.

Judge is entirely capable of another dominant season without the help of a fellow superstar hitter, and when he's in the zone, there are few players in baseball history more fun to watch.

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