EAST LANSING- Two thirds into the MLB season and the stakes are really heating up down the stretch here in August.
With most of the season finished, most of the hitters in this week’s ranking are the same, but there are a few new faces and some re-shuffling near the top of the list.
Without further adieu, here are the updated power rankings for the best hitters in MLB right now. (All stats used are recorded as of the end of play on August 8, 2024)
1. Aaron Judge (NYY)
AVG: .321 HR: 41 RBI: 104 OPS: 1.147
Previous Ranking: 1
It’s getting a little boring at this point but Aaron Judge is still number one in the power rankings for this week.
Judge still leads the league in home runs, RBI, OPS, on-base percentage, slugging, total bases, extra base hits, walks, and intentional walks.
Judge became the first major league player to be walked with two men out and nobody on base last weekend, as he has become a novelty around the league. Judge is also currently leading the league in WAR according to Baseball Reference and Fangraphs, as he is well on his way to his second MVP award in the last three years.
Judge is hitting for a staggering 1.328 OPS since the All-Star break and he has been pacing a Yankees team that has been turning it around more as of late.
Judge is nine home runs away from becoming the fifth player in MLB history with three 50+ home run seasons.
2. Bobby Witt Jr. (KC)
AVG: .349 HR: 22 RBI: 84 OPS: 1.000
Previous Ranking: 9
Bobby Witt Jr. comes in at number two in this week’s rankings as nobody has been hotter than him at the plate for the last five weeks.
Witt has a .455 batting average since the beginning of July and has a 1.291 OPS in that time span as well. Witt is also leading the Major Leagues in hits, runs scored, total bases, and of course batting average.
He is currently one of four qualified players with an OPS of at least 1.000 and has also managed to nab twenty-five stolen bases so far this season.
Witt was the American League’s player of the month in July and the award was well-deserved as he has suddenly planted himself right behind Aaron Judge in the American League MVP race.
The Royals are currently holding on to the third wild card spot in the A.L. for dear life right now, and Witt will need to continue to play this caliber of baseball for them to make it.
3. Juan Soto (NYY)
AVG: .305 HR: 28 RBI: 79 OPS: 1.015
Previous Ranking: 3
As great as his teammate Aaron Judge has been this season, Juan Soto’s 2024 campaign cannot be overshadowed.
Soto is on his way to putting up the best offensive numbers he’s had in a season in his whole career, as he ranks second in all of baseball in OPS and on-base percentage, while ranking top ten in the league in home runs, RBI, extra-base hits, slugging, batting average, and total bases.
Soto has put up an OPS of 1.157 since the All-Star break and will need to continue to be one of the best hitters in the league for the remainder of the season if the Yankees hope to clinch their second division title in the last three years.
The 25-year-old is making an excellent push at winning his fifth silver slugger in his young and illustrious career so far, and could even put up his first 40 home run season.
4. Shohei Ohtani (LAD)
AVG: .302 HR: 34 RBI: 81 OPS: 1.008
Previous Ranking: 2
Shohei Ohtani is still absolutely raking for the Dodgers out in L.A. as he has been the best hitter in the National League this year throughout the season thus far.
Ohtani is first in the N.L. in OPS, slugging, home runs, runs scored, total bases, and extra-base hits. Ohtani also ranks in the top ten in all of baseball in hits, on-base percentage, and batting average.
The Japanese slugger has been everything as advertised for his new team and is potentially putting up his best offensive season yet. The lefty is making an excellent case for winning his third MVP of his career this season, and what would be his first in the National League while doing it all as a designated hitter.
With the injuries Los Angeles has had to work through this season, Ohtani’s presence has loomed absolutely enormous for the first-place Dodgers.
5. Rafael Devers (BOS)
AVG: .304 HR: 25 RBI: 70 OPS: .984
Previous Ranking: 5
Rafael Devers has been one of the best hitters in baseball all season long and will remain in the top five of the power rankings this week.
Devers ranks top five in the American League in OPS, extra-base hits, and slugging while ranking top ten in home runs, on-base percentage, batting average, and total bases.
Devers has been the best offensive player on a Red Sox team that has surprised a lot of people and is currently sitting less than two games out of a Wild Card spot in the American League.
The Red Sox will go as far as Devers takes them, as he has been the best slugger in their well-rounded lineup by far, so if he continues to produce, Boston has an excellent chance at making the playoffs for the first time since 2021.
6. Marcell Ozuna (ATL)
AVG: .299 HR: 33 RBI: 88 OPS: .954
Previous Ranking: 7
Marcell Ozuna continues to do one thing for the Atlanta Braves all season long that is rake.
Ozuna is putting up his best numbers in a full season in his career to this point, as he ranks second in the National League in OPS, slugging, total bases, and home runs, while leading in RBI.
Ozuna also ranks top five in the N.L. in on-base percentage, batting average, and extra-base hits.
Similarly to Ohtani, Ozuna is putting up all these numbers primarily as a designated hitter, but Ozuna would likely be top three in MVP voting if the season ended today, as he has been top three in nearly every offensive category in the N.L. so far this year.
Ozuna has five home runs in his last thirteen games and will need to keep hitting for power if the Braves want to make the playoffs for the seventh straight year.
7. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (TOR)
AVG: .321 HR: 23 RBI: 76 OPS: .945
Previous Ranking: N/A
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has earned himself a spot on the list for the first time this season as he finds himself on the power rankings after being one of the best hitters in all of baseball for the past two months.
Vladdy has a slash line of .394/ .441/ .819 in his last forty-one games and has hit sixteen home runs while driving in forty-six in that time span.
Guerrero now ranks in the top five in all of baseball in batting average, doubles, and on-base percentage, while ranking in the top ten in OPS, slugging, RBI, total bases, and extra-base hits.
Guerrero has turned a season where he struggled massively into perhaps the second-best offensive season he’s had in his career to this point. In what has been a massively disappointing season for the Blue Jays, Vladimir Geurerro Jr. has been as good as advertised.
8. Brent Rooker (OAK)
AVG: .291 HR: 28 RBI: 81 OPS: .952
Previous Ranking: 12
Brent Rooker has shown that he is one of the most underrated hitters in baseball all season long, and that has been no different lately as he has put up a 1.220 OPS since the beginning of July, including thirteen home runs and thirty-four RBI in that span.
Rooker ranks top five in the American League in OPS, slugging, and home runs, while ranking in the top ten in on-base percentage, RBI, and extra-base hits.
Rooker was both snubbed from the All-Star team and not traded by the lowly Oakland A’s at the trade deadline, so most of Rooker’s production this year has either gone unnoticed or under-appreciated.
Rooker has been one of the best hitters in baseball for a better part of the season and he deserves recognition as a potential silver slugger.
9. Ketel Marte (AZ)
AVG: .295 HR: 29 RBI: 80 OPS: .919
Previous Ranking: N/A
Ketel Marte is another guy who will be on the power rankings for the first time this season this week, as he has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball for the last month-plus.
Marte is slashing .336/ .424/ .679 in his last thirty-six games and has homered fourteen times while driving in thirty-seven runs in that time period.
Marte ranks top five in the National League in OPS, slugging, total bases, home runs, and RBI, while also ranking top ten in batting average, on-base percentage, and extra-base hits.
Marte and the Diamondbacks have been surging back in the N.L. West standings and are currently only three games behind the idol Dodgers.
If Marte continues to hit and things keep clicking for Arizona, the defending N.L. champions could be back in the playoffs in style.
10. Gunnar Henderson (BAL)
AVG: .285 HR: 29 RBI: 69 OPS: .926
Previous Ranking: 6
Gunnar Henderson has not been on the heater he was on for most of the summer to this point, but he has still been one of the best shortstops and hitters in baseball this season so far.
Henderson is still top five in the American League in home runs, extra-base hits, walks, and total bases, while also ranking in the top ten in OPS, slugging, on-base percentage, and hits.
Henderson only has an OPS of .761 since the beginning of July and is still ranking near the top of the league in all of these categories over the course of the full season.
Even though he has not been the player he was for the first three months, his Orioles are still tied for first in the division with the Yankees with forty-six games to go for each team. If Baltimore wants to finish strong and win another division title, Henderson will need to find his early season form.
11. Bryce Harper (PHI)
AVG: .279 HR: 25 RBI: 70 OPS: .909
Previous Ranking: 4
Bryce Harper is another player who has been one of the very best in the league all year but has hit his first struggling point in the season over the last few weeks.
Since the All-Star break, Harper has hit an OPS of only .623 with four home runs in nineteen games in that time period.
Despite his slump, Harper still ranks top five in the National League in OPS, slugging, and home runs, while ranking in the top ten in RBI, on-base percentage, and extra-base hits.
With the Phillies currently playing the worst baseball they’ve played all year, they could really use another extended Harper hot streak, as they will need him to be at his very best down the stretch if they hope to clinch the best record in the N.L. in the regular season this year.
12. Yordan Álvarez (HOU)
AVG: .300 HR: 22 RBI: 58 OPS: .922
Previous Ranking: 11
Yordan Álvarez has quietly been one of the best and most consistent hitters in baseball for a couple of months now as he once again finds himself in the power rankings.
Álvarez ranks in the top ten in the American League in OPS, slugging, total bases, extra-base hits, batting average, and doubles, and has started to find his stride again with two home runs in his last two games.
Since the beginning of July, Álvarez has put up a consistent and very good OPS of 1.014 in twenty-nine games.
The Astros are in a very close race with the Mariners for the American League West, and Álvarez will need to keep putting up great offensive numbers like this if they hope to win the division for the fourth year in a row.
13. José Ramírez (CLE)
AVG: .282 HR: 30 RBI: 96 OPS: .883
Previous Ranking: 14
José Ramírez continues to be one of the best hitters in the league for one of the best teams in the league so far this season as he just became the fifth player in Major League Baseball to reach thirty home runs on the season this week.
Ramírez ranks top five in all of baseball in home runs and RBI and ranks top ten in the American League in OPS, slugging, hits, extra-base hits, and total bases.
Ramírez is heating up again as of late hitting for an OPS of 1.189 in his last sixteen games while slugging seven home runs and seventeen RBI in that span.
The Guardians are right in the thick of the race for the number one seed in the A.L. and if they plan on locking up the Central and chasing down that record, Ramírez will need to continue to hit at or near this level.
14. Freddie Freeman (LAD)
AVG: .289 HR: 16 RBI: 70 OPS: .884
Previous Ranking: N/A
Freddie Freeman finds himself back on the power rankings this week as he heats back up for a Dodgers team that desperately needs it.
Freeman ranks in the top five in the National League in walks and on-base percentage, while also ranking in the top ten in OPS, slugging, RBI, and batting average.
Freeman also has the best walk-to-strikeout ratio of any hitter in the N.L. and the third-best walk rate.
Freeman has reached base safely in each of his last thirteen games as he has been a constant in the Dodgers lineup and one of the most consistent hitters and first baseman’s in baseball this year.
If the Dodgers want to get back on track and win the N.L. West yet again, Freeman will need to continue to produce for an offense that has lost a few important pieces to injuries this year.
15. Jurickson Profar (SD)
AVG: .298 HR: 19 RBI: 71 OPS: .880
Previous Ranking: 13
Jurickson Profar continues to be one of the fifteen best hitters in baseball this season in what really has been an impressive career turnaround and incredible story in 2024.
The former first-overall pick turned first-time All-Star this year is still leading the National League in on-base percentage while ranking top ten in the N.L. in categories such as OPS, slugging percentage, hits, batting average, and RBI.
Profar has also been one of the most consistent hitters in the league as his OPS since the beginning of July is .869, on par with his excellent season averages.
Profar and the Padres have a chance to overtake the Dodgers in the N.L. West is just like Arizona, and if they do, it’ll be due in large part to the Silver Slugger-level production that Profar has been putting in so far this season.
