The theme is New York, New York in the ninth edition of MLB.com’s Hitter Power Rankings.
Aaron Judge.Francisco Lindor. Yankees. Mets. Two stars of the two first-place New York teams lead the way in this week’s rankings. Judge is even in the No. 1 spot for the fourth time this season, the only player to lead the Hitter Power Rankings more than once.
These rankings take into account both season-long excellence and recent performance, along with compelling storylines and a bit of “fun factor.” Judge and Lindor definitely live up to all that.
Here are the latest Hitter Power Rankings.
Stats are entering play Thursday.
1) Aaron Judge, Yankees (Last poll: 1)
DraftKings MVP odds: -525 (Bet $525 to win $100)
After hitting his 45th home run on Wednesday, Judge is on a 65-homer pace this season, which would be tied for fourth-most all-time and the first 60-homer season since Barry Bonds’ record 73 in 2001. The Yankees slugger and American League MVP frontrunner remains in the top spot from the last Hitter Power Rankings.
2) Francisco Lindor, Mets (not ranked)
DraftKings MVP odds: 50-1
Lindor is red-hot and setting Mets records. This week, he became the first Mets shortstop with multiple 20-homer seasons and tied the franchise record for most RBIs by a shortstop in a single season (81, along with José Reyes in 2006). He’s scored in 13 straight games, equaling David Wright’s run-scoring streak in 2008 for the longest in team history. Over the last month, Lindor is batting .374 with a 1.063 OPS as the Mets have gone 20-6 behind him.
3) Nolan Arenado, Cardinals (not ranked)
DraftKings MVP odds: 14-1
Arenado returned to Coors Field this week and hit his 138th and 139th home runs in his former ballpark — but his first ones as a visitor. That’s the fourth-most home runs of any active player in a single ballpark, behind Joey Votto’s 190 at Great American Ball Park, Miguel Cabrera’s 187 at Comerica Park and Mike Trout’s 170 at Angel Stadium.
4) Paul Goldschmidt, Cardinals (4)
DraftKings MVP odds: -135 (Bet $135 to win $100)
Arenado’s superstar teammate and a National League MVP favorite, Goldschmidt is leading the league in all three slash line categories. He has a .328 batting average, .413 on-base percentage and .605 slugging percentage, giving him a league-best 1.018 OPS. He’s closing in on his seventh career 30-homer season and second straight in St. Louis.
5) Austin Riley, Braves (3)
DraftKings MVP odds: 4 1/2-1
Riley leads the National League with 256 total bases and the Major Leagues with 65 extra-base hits, one more than Judge. He’s one of four hitters to reach the 30-homer mark so far, along with Judge, Kyle Schwarber and Yordan Alvarez. Since the last edition of these Hitter Power Rankings, he’s also signed a new 10-year, $212 million contract with Atlanta, a team record.
6) Juan Soto, Padres (7)
DraftKings MVP odds: 50-1
The Padres swung the biggest blockbuster in the history of the Trade Deadline when they landed Soto from the Nationals on Aug. 2. In eight games since joining San Diego, Soto is batting .357 (10-for-28) with a .471 on-base percentage, .607 slugging percentage and 1.078 OPS. He hit his first Padres home run on Tuesday against the Giants.
7) Yordan Alvarez, Astros (6)
DraftKings MVP odds: 50-1
Alvarez is on a 45-home run pace after slugging his 31st of the season on Wednesday. The Astros only have two 45-homer seasons, by Jeff Bagwell in 2000 (47) and Lance Berkman in 2006 (45). The last Houston player to hit 40 was Alex Bregman in 2019.
8) Rhys Hoskins, Phillies (not ranked)
DraftKings MVP odds: 100-1
Hoskins homered in four straight games last week, the first Phillies player to do so since Odúbel Herrera in 2018. Hoskins, Goldschmidt, Corey Seager, Anthony Rizzo, Rafael Devers and Patrick Wisdom are the only players with a four-plus-game home run streak this year. It’s the second time in his career Hoskins has done it — he homered in five straight games in 2017.
9) Daniel Vogelbach, Mets (not ranked)
The fan favorite Vogelbach has been awesome for the Mets since they traded for him. In 15 games with New York, Vogelbach is batting .341 with a .473 on-base percentage, .568 slugging percentage and 1.041 OPS. His first Mets home run was a grand slam, and the Mets are 13-2 in the 15 games that Vogelbach has played.
10) JT Realmuto, Phillies (not ranked)
DraftKings MVP odds: 100-1
With 13 home runs and 13 stolen bases, Realmuto has double-digit homers and steals for the third time in his career — and he’s the only catcher in baseball this season who’s in double digits in both categories. In fact, Realmuto is the only catcher with double-digit steals, period. He homered in three straight games from last Friday to Tuesday.
Also receiving votes: Rafael Devers (Red Sox), Rowdy Tellez (Brewers), Trey Mancini (Astros), Freddie Freeman (Dodgers), Matt Chapman (Blue Jays), Pete Alonso (Mets), Adley Rutschman (Orioles), DJ LeMahieu (Yankees), Jose Altuve (Astros), Eloy Jiménez (White Sox), Jeff McNeil (Mets), Manny Machado (Padres), Shohei Ohtani (Angels), Seth Brown (A’s)
Voters: David Adler, Nick Aguilera, Doug Gausepohl, Thomas Harrigan, Sarah Langs, Ted Lee, Mike Petriello, Manny Randhawa, Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru, Andrew Simon
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