Breaking down the TOP 10 sluggers in the MLB heading into the 2024 season. There are certainly plenty of great options to choose from, so make sure to drop your suggestions and feedback in the comment section!
1) Aaron Judge
While Aaron Judge didn’t hit 62 home runs last year, he still hit 37 in just 106 games last year and leads all of baseball in home runs over the past three seasons with 138. He’s one of the most dangerous power hitters of the 21st Century, sporting the highest barrel rate in the Statcast era and living up to the slugger name. There’s nobody who embodies the term better than the 2022 AL MVP, and he’s the best power hitter in the game.
2) Shohei Ohtani
The Los Angeles Dodgers brought in one of the best players of all time, as Shohei Ohtani is the only hitter outside of our top pick to have a qualified ISO over .300 since 2021. It’s impressive enough that he hit 44 home runs, but he did so in just 135 games while also playing through a torn UCL, which is unheard of. He has a blistering 93.6 MPH average exit velocity over the past three seasons, and Ohtani could have a scary-good season as a DH only in 2024.
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3) Yordan Alvarez
Yordan Alvarez strikes fear into any pitcher, as while injuries have eaten into his home run total the past two seasons, he still clobbered 31 in 114 games, and few people can do as much damage to the baseball as the left-handed slugger. He’s everything you want in a power hitter, averaging double-digit barrel rates with incredible power to all fields, and he also has run a strikeout rate below 20% in each of the last two seasons.
4) Matt Olson
The Atlanta Braves are an offensive powerhouse, and while Ronald Acuña Jr. is rightfully the face of their star-studded lineup, Matt Olson is a machine at the plate. He led all of baseball in home runs last season (54) and has the most home runs in baseball since 2018 (206). He’s your prototypical hulking slugger at first base, and his excellent approach at the plate, coupled with a lofty swing, has allowed him to become a consistent home run threat in his career.
5) Pete Alonso
Entering a walk year, Pete Alonso could have his best season to date, and despite struggling to hit for average last year, he still managed to clobber 46 home runs. Part of his struggles stem from a wrist injury he rushed back from last year, and the Polar Bear is in prime position to do a lot of damage in 2024. Whether he remains a New York Met long-term remains to be seen, but right now, they have one of the best home run threats in baseball.
6) Kyle Schwarber
When Kyle Schwarber hits lots of Schwarbombs, and when he hits them, they go very far. He’s hit over 45 home runs in each of his first two seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, generating more loft in his swing and being a dynamic power hitter from the left-handed side. He may not hit for average or play defense, but you know Schwarber is going to continue to be a barrel king who can terrorize opposing pitchers for years to come.
7) Corey Seager
Two-time World Series MVP Corey Seager crushed 33 home runs in just 119 games last season and makes the best swing decisions in baseball. His profile is tailor-made to crush the baseball, and while health has always been a question mark for the left-handed slugger, there’s no doubt that Seager transforms any lineup he’s part of. There could be an MVP year in his future with Shohei Ohtani out of the American League, and there’s 40-50 HR potential when healthy.
8) Austin Riley
Another consistently overlooked power bat, Austin Riley, has done an excellent job of consistently doing damage at the plate since his breakout season in 2021. He’s hit over 30 home runs each of the last season with 37 in 2023, and that was with an early-season slump. In the second-half alone he hit 21 home runs with a 153 wRC+, and he has the ninth-highest ISO in baseball since 2022 (.245).
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9) Mookie Betts
When you think of a slugger, you don’t think of a 5’9 hitter, and yet Mookie Betts has transcended what it means to be a power hitter. He has the seventh-most home runs (74) and the sixth-best ISO (.268), coming off of an MVP-caliber season where he set a new career-high in home runs with 39. The Dodgers have a stacked lineup, and Betts is their table-setter, but he’s also quietly become one of the deadliest hitters in baseball with his improved bat speed.
10) Ronald Acuña Jr.
The reigning NL MVP clobbered 41 home runs and slugged .596 after a 2022 campaign where he struggled to do much of anything in the power department. This seems low, but Acuña seems to have traded off some game power for contact, which is a decision I can totally get behind, given the monstrous 170 wRC+ he posted last year. He could also try to lift the ball just a little more, and while it might result in a slight bump in strikeout rate, it could also lead to a 50-70 season.