2 new bats break into Top 10 of Hitter Power Rankings

It’s difficult to stay atop the Hitter Power Rankings over and over and over again, because even the best hitters tend to cool off every once in a while.

Well, don’t tell that to Aaron Judge. Nobody has been able to slow down the Yankees slugger for several weeks, and he has now led three straight polls. If anything, his grip on the No. 1 position has only tightened.

We’re just now approaching the midpoint of the 2024 MLB schedule, so there is still plenty of time for things to change. But as our MLB.com voting panel considers a combination of career track record, 2024 success and recent performance, Judge still reigns supreme.

Here are the latest Hitter Power Rankings. (All stats below are through Tuesday’s games.)

1. Aaron Judge, Yankees (Last poll: 1)
Judge’s relatively slow start to the season is now a distant memory thanks to a two-month heater that has left every other hitter in the dust. Last month, Judge’s 1.397 May OPS was the 10th highest by any player since 1901. This month? His 1.371 June OPS is merely the 19th highest in that span. What will July bring?

2. Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers (4)
Ohtani slipped a bit in our last poll, but his bat is now scorching again -- at a great time for the Dodgers, who lost Mookie Betts to a left hand fracture on June 16. Ohtani is batting .320/.422/.773 with 10 homers and 22 RBIs over his past 19 games, and he’s launched five homers and driven in 14 in eight games since Betts was placed on the IL. Don’t look now, but an NL Triple Crown is very much in play for Ohtani, who is first in average and homers and a close third in RBIs.

3. Gunnar Henderson, Orioles (3)
Henderson was already a star last year, posting 6.2 WAR (per Baseball-Reference) and winning the AL Rookie of the Year Award. But he has now taken another leap, to becoming one of the sport’s true elite players. Henderson is, in many different ways, chasing history in 2024. And oh yeah, he will celebrate his 23rd birthday on Saturday.

4. Juan Soto, Yankees (2)
Soto is on his way to leading the AL or NL in walks for a fourth straight season, as well as in OBP for the third time in the past five years. Meanwhile, his .571 slugging percentage, 1.004 OPS and 182 OPS+ would all be career highs outside of the shortened 2020 season.

5. Bryce Harper, Phillies (6)
With Betts sidelined, the NL MVP race could end up coming down to two players looking to become three-time MVPs: Ohtani and Harper. Remember when Harper languished in free agency during the 2018-19 offseason before ultimately signing a 13-year deal with the Phillies? Well he’s now in Year 6 of that contract, and his OPS+ as a Phillie (152) is significantly higher than it was as a National (139).

6. Steven Kwan, Guardians (not ranked)
Hello, Steven Kwan. Cleveland’s 5-foot-9, 170-pound leadoff man, who missed 23 games with a left hamstring strain in May, makes his 2024 Hitter Power Rankings debut here. With a .440 average in his first 19 games off the IL, Kwan raised his season mark to .385, although he does not yet have enough at-bats to qualify for the batting title. The thing about Kwan, though? He’s suddenly hitting for power, too.

7. Marcell Ozuna, Braves (9)
Ozuna led the NL in home runs and RBIs in 2020, but now he might just do it in a full season. The 33-year-old has been a consistent lifeline for a Braves lineup dealing with injuries and underperformance elsewhere. His OPS by month: 1.036 in March/April, .938 in May, .975 in June.

8. José Ramírez, Guardians (7)
Ramírez entered Wednesday on pace for 44 home runs, which would smash his career high of 39, set in 2018. That would also be the most for a Cleveland player since Jim Thome hit 52 in 2002. (Travis Hafner had the team’s last 40-homer campaign in 2006.) After batting .235 with a .280 OBP in his first 40 games, Ramírez is at .331/.397/.662 since May 13.

9. Yordan Alvarez, Astros (10)
Alvarez’s season has gone through some ups and downs, but let’s zoom out and see the big picture here. Among all AL/NL players with at least 2,000 plate appearances through age 27 in the Modern Era (since 1900), his 162 OPS+ currently ranks 16th, including second among active players (behind Mike Trout but ahead of Soto).

10. Royce Lewis, Twins (not ranked)
The injury bug has been a huge obstacle for Lewis during his young career. But whenever he gets back on the field, he keeps raking. This season, Lewis got hurt on Opening Day (after starting 2-for-2 with a homer), missed more than two months, then returned to hit .350/.420/.850 with nine big flies over his first 16 games back. While Lewis’ playing time has been spotty, his .982 career OPS (including postseason) ranks second among all players since 2022 (minimum 350 PA), behind only Judge.

Others receiving votes: Bobby Witt Jr. (Royals), Freddie Freeman (Dodgers), Jarren Duran (Red Sox), Rafael Devers (Red Sox), Jurickson Profar (Padres), Anthony Santander (Orioles), Elly De La Cruz (Reds), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Blue Jays), CJ Abrams (Nationals), Kyle Schwarber (Phillies)

Voters: Chris Begley, Jason Catania, Theo DeRosa, Daniel Feldman, Travis Miller, Brian Murphy, Efrain Ruiz, Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru, Andrew Simon, Ismail Soyugenc, David Venn, Tom Vourtsis, Andy Werle