The Top 10 Hitters Going Into The 2024 MLB Season
From the unicorn-like Shohei Ohtani to the electric Ronald Acuña Jr, Major League Baseball is chock full of fantastic hitters.
These players just keep getting better and better, and it feels like more records get shattered with each passing season.
With the sheer abundance of talent in the game today, it’s tough to rank just 10 hitters. But that’s the task for today.
Here is the full list of the top 10 hitters in the big leagues for 2024:
10.) Luis Arráez
Arráez may possess the best bat-to-ball skills in the game today.
The Marlins second baseman hit a ridiculous .354 last season, winning his second straight batting title.
The Venezuelan native led a rather unremarkable Marlins team to the playoffs, posting his highest career WAR at a mark of 4.8.
On the whole, Arráez is a career .326 hitter, only hitting under .315 in one of his five seasons in the majors.
The only reason he is so low on this list is his lack of power. The importance of extra base hits and home runs becomes more prevalent each year, and Arráez just doesn’t provide those at an elite enough rate to be any higher than number 10.
9.) Corbin Carroll
The speedy Diamondbacks outfielder had one of the best rookie campaigns in MLB history. Not only did he run away with the Rookie of The Year award, he also became the first rookie in baseball history to hit 25 home runs and steal 50 bases.
Carroll combines his plate discipline with his extremely strong build to hit for both power and contact, hitting .285 with 65 extra base hits.
10 of those extra base hits were triples, which was a league-wide high.
Carroll projects to only get better next season, as he is just 23 years of age. The likely cornerstone of the Dbacks franchise for many years to come is expected to be an MVP candidate year in and year out from now on.
8.) Julio Rodriguez
Julio Rodriguez might’ve been the best hitter in the league for the last two months of the season.
While the center fielder had a rough start to his sophomore season, he bounced back tremendously following the month of July.
In his final 77 games, J-Rod hit .312 with a slugging percentage of .561. He also had 53 extra base hits during that span, including 19 home runs.
Even with his slow start to the season, the Dominican would still finish 4th in AL MVP voting, showing just how strong the latter half of his campaign was.
All in all, it’s safe to assume the J-Rod show will continue in Seattle next season.
7.) Mookie Betts
Mookie put together one of the best seasons of his stellar career in 2023, finishing second in NL MVP voting behind only the unicorn himself, Shohei Ohtani.
Betts slashed .307, with a .408 OBP and a .579 SLG.
The only season where Betts performed better at the plate was in 2018, when he won the MVP award with the Boston Red Sox.
The reason he isn’t higher on this list is his disappearance in the playoffs. It wasn’t just 2023. Mookie only has a .251 batting average in 51 career postseason games.
The best hitters come through in the big moments, and, as of right now, Mookie Betts hasn’t shown he can do that.
6.) Freddie Freeman
It’s hard to believe Freddie Freeman is 34 years old. He truly does age like fine wine.
He hit .331 in 2023, his highest mark in a full season.
Freddie also hit a career-high 59 doubles, while also poking 29 out of the ball park.
When it comes to him and his fellow Dodger Mookie Betts, Freeman offers that little bit more at the plate.
What truly seperates Freeman from the rest is his rare ability to hit to all parts of the field. His spray chart from 2023 is almost perfectly matched.
But, as mentioned with Betts, Freeman didn’t come up when the Dodgers needed him the most. He could be higher on this list had he capitalized in October.
5.) Shohei Ohtani
The unanimous 2023 AL MVP had maybe the best season in baseball history last year. He obviously pitched incredibly, but that’s not the topic of today’s discussion.
Ohtani was a menace at the plate, hitting .304 while also clubbing 44 home runs in only 135 games.
With Mike Trout missing over half the season and looking like a shred of his former self, the Japanese ace almost single-handedly dragged this depleted Angels team into relevancy.
Ohtani could crack the top three in this list, but there is some concerns regarding his injury. As everyone knows, Ohtani will not toe the rubber at all in 2024. He will strictly focus on hitting.
While some view that as a gift, it can also be argued it’s a disadvantage. First off, no one quite knows how his injury will impact his ability to swing the bat the way he is accustomed to.
Secondly, he statistically hits better in games where he pitches. If that’s taken away, who can tell how those will affect his numbers?
Even though he sometimes feels like a robot manufactured purely for baseball, Shohei Ohtani is human. There are concerns surrounding the Dodgers marquee signing.
It’s a testament to Ohtani that, despite these concerns, he is still easily a top five hitter in baseball. It feels wrong to put Ohtani here, but this is where he will stay for now.
4.) Juan Soto
The Yankees acquired Juan Soto from San Diego via trade this offseason, and it looks to be a match made in heaven.
With Soto predominantly being a lefty pull hitter, the short porch in right at Yankee Stadium will surely help the outfielder hit even more out the park.
If someone wants to know how good Juan Soto really is, just tell them this. Last year was considered a down year for Soto, yet he still put up a slash line of .275/.410/.519 with an OPS nearing 1. He also walked more than he struck out.
Yeah, that’s considered a down year for Juan Soto. That’s the generational type of talent he is, and he’ll bring the Yankees fans to their feet time and time again in the Bronx.
Soto is bound to have a successful stint in pinstripes.
3.) Corey Seager
Corey Seager’s phenomenal 2023 season somehow managed to fly under the radar of most people.
The Rangers shortstop was far and away the best at his position last season, hitting .327 with 33 bombs. He also posted an OPS over 1.
Even with those ridiculous number, what stands out most when it comes to Seager is his performance throughout the Rangers run to the World Series.
The eventual World Series MVP slashed .318/.451/.682 to go along with six long balls in the playoffs.
A common theme in this article, the players who come up big are ranked higher, and Corey Seager is Mr. Clutch himself.
2.) Ronald Acuña Jr.
He founded the 40–70 club. What more needs to be said?
He hit .337 to go along with his 41 homers. He also managed to slug nearly .600, all while having an OPS over 1.
The man was simply unreal. Not much needs to be said. Just like Colorado Football in the month of September, Ronald Acuña Jr was must-see TV.
1.) Aaron Judge
Aaron Judge is the best pure hitter on the planet. There’s no two ways about it.
If it wasn’t for an injury at Dodger Stadium last year, the San Francisco native would’ve put up similar numbers to his 2022 MVP season, where, oh yeah, he hit 62 home runs.
He only played 106 games in 2023, yet he still managed to hit 37 home runs and attain an OPS over 1.
If one needs to know how good Aaron Judge is, all they need to do is look at the state the Yankees were in without him.
Prior to his injury, the Yankees were in the midst of playoff contention and looked like a solid ball club. After his injury, the Bronx Bombers found themselves in shambles.
After a month and a half of Judge-less baseball, the Yankees found themselves below .500 with a snowball’s chance in hell of making the playoffs.
He would return at roughly 70% strength, and the Yankees would go on to finish above .500 and would fight for a spot in the playoffs until the final week of the season.
The captain, the MVP, the giant, whatever you call him, there’s no denying the fact that Aaron Judge is the best pure hitter in todays game.
