A little over a month ago, we polled a panel of MLB.com experts about the best hitters in baseball headed into the 2025 season.
Now, though? We have actual 2025 results in the mix. That¡¯s not to say that roughly three weeks' worth of games is going to completely change our perception. Not only is it a long season, but each of the 10 hitters on the list noted above has years' worth of big league results backing them up.
Even so, the early results are enough to move the needle, whether in regard to established stars working through some early struggles or new sluggers bashing baseballs and crashing the party. In fact, our latest top 10 is split, with five holdovers from that preseason list and five fresh faces -- including one young player who has been one of the most pleasant surprises of 2025.
Moving forward, the Hitter Power Rankings will be based on a formula, constructed by MLB.com¡¯s data team, that considers players¡¯ recent performance, season-long performance and performance over the past 365 days. Those three categories are weighted in descending order, with the most emphasis placed on what has happened lately.
Here are the results. (All statistics are through Tuesday¡¯s games.)
1. Aaron Judge, Yankees (Previously: 1)
The subjective voters and objective metrics agree: Judge remains the king of Hitter Power Rankings. This is a player who produced arguably the greatest offensive season by a right-handed batter in Major League history in 2024, and his average (.381), OBP (.494), slugging (.730), OPS (1.224) and OPS+ (250) are all better so far in ¡®25. What more do you need to know?
2. Pete Alonso, Mets (unranked)
Alonso¡¯s 2023 and ¡®24 seasons were good (.480 SLG, 123 OPS+), but they were clearly below the peak he had established over his first four seasons (.535 SLG, 140 OPS+). So far in 2025, though? The Polar Bear looks locked in, leading the NL with a 1.195 OPS and 242 OPS+. Whether it¡¯s more about adjustments at the plate, motivation after a disappointing offseason or OBP machine Juan Soto batting in front of him (57.5% of his plate appearances have come with at least one runner on base), everything seems to be coming together again for Alonso.
3. Corbin Carroll, D-backs (unranked)
If a video is worth a thousand words, just watch how Carroll blasted a 107.8 mph, 434-foot shot to the second deck in right-center field at Marlins Park on Tuesday night. That grand slam was indicative of the transformation that has Carroll off to a sensational start (.735 SLG, six homers) that is a complete 180 from his first-half struggles in 2024. Carroll, after finishing last season strong, is swinging harder than ever, hitting the ball harder than ever and slugging like one the big boys above him on this list -- despite being listed at 5-foot-10, 165 pounds.
4. Bobby Witt Jr., Royals (4)
A year after leading the Majors in batting average (.332) and hits (211), Witt is looking like he just may do it again. While his home run power is not in midseason form yet, Witt is batting .313 and ranks third among Major League qualifiers with a .358 expected average. The 2024 AL MVP runner-up is also tied for the AL lead with seven doubles and is 5-for-6 in steal attempts.
5. Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres (unranked)
The Tatis we¡¯re seeing in 2025 is the fully-operational superstar that he very much was when healthy over his first few seasons. It took a while for Tatis to hit his stride again after losing all of 2022 to suspension and injury, but here he is again. Over 279 regular season and postseason plate appearances going back to June 1, 2024, Tatis is batting .333/.387/.655 with 22 home runs. Still only 26 years old, he¡¯s coming up huge for a Padres club that¡¯s off to a great start.
6. Kyle Schwarber, Phillies (unranked)
If you like the three true outcomes, Schwarber is still your guy. Just since 2022, he¡¯s led the NL in homers once, walks once and strikeouts twice. He¡¯s annually above the 95th percentile in average exit velocity, barrel rate and walk rate, making up for the K¡¯s by getting on base and pounding the ball when he makes contact. Schwarber already has 14 walks, a .421 OBP and six homers in 2025, with the latter giving him 137 since 2022 (tied for second in MLB, behind only Judge).
7. Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers (2)
It says a lot that Ohtani was hitting .280/.379/.520 with five homers through his first 19 games -- and it still felt like he wasn¡¯t really in a groove at the plate yet. But that¡¯s the bar you¡¯re contending with when you put up back-to-back seasons like Ohtani did in 2023-24, which resulted in his second and third MVP Awards. Even as Ohtani continues to work his way back to a Major League mound, it wouldn¡¯t be a surprise if this is about as low as he ranks on this list all season.
8. Kyle Tucker, Cubs (10)
Remember: This list factors in what a hitter has done over the last 365 days, so the fact that Tucker only played 78 games last season due to a shin injury hurts him a bit. With that said, he still ranks pretty high because, with a roaring start to his Cubs tenure, Tucker is now slashing .294/.412/.588 (183 OPS+) with 28 homers and 15 steals (in 15 attempts) since the beginning of 2024. At this rate, Tucker will be the prized target of next offseason¡¯s free-agent market, if Chicago can¡¯t ink him to an extension before then.
9. Tyler Soderstrom, Athletics (unranked)
It wasn¡¯t impossible to see that Soderstrom was a young player on the rise heading into 2025, as he recovered from a rough 2023 debut to hold his own at the plate -- with some promising underlying metrics -- in ¡®24. Still, nobody saw this coming. After Soderstrom¡¯s third multi-homer game of the season on Tuesday night, he took sole possession of the MLB home run lead (eight), to go with a .734 SLG and 1.137 OPS. ¡°He¡¯s Babe Ruth for us right now,¡± said teammate Lawrence Butler.
10. Juan Soto, Mets (3)
Similar to Ohtani, Soto¡¯s early-2025 results could be described as both ¡°very good¡± and ¡°slightly disappointing, relative to expectations.¡± Of course, sky-high expectations now come with the territory for Soto. The new Mets star is still getting on base, as always, with a .392 OBP supporting a 149 OPS+. The batting average (.250) and power (.467 SLG) have lagged a bit, but if Soto homering in back-to-back games on Monday and Tuesday is any indication, that may not be the case for long.
*Just missed the cut: Marcell Ozuna (Braves), Jung Hoo Lee (Giants), Jonathan Aranda (Rays), Austin Riley (Braves), Kyren Paris (Angels)*