Hitter Power Rankings: Fresh faces join familiar names at the top

It’s a long season, as they say. And that means a long runway for players looking to find their footing. Get off to a slow start? It’s not ideal, but it’s also not the end of the story of your season.

Our latest Hitter Power Rankings has some very familiar names toward the top -- names we’ve been seeing here for a while now -- but half of our top 10 has turned over from our last poll, which came two weeks ago. Those five new faces haven’t made many previous Hitter Power Rankings appearances in 2026 (if any), and each of them has found a groove as the summer has progressed, especially since the All-Star break.

Here are the latest rankings, as decided by a panel of MLB.com experts. (All stats are through Tuesday unless otherwise noted.)

1. Yordan Alvarez, Astros (Previous poll: 1)
You want to know what makes Alvarez such a nightmare for pitchers? There is no clear plan of attack available -- no pitch that you know will work if you execute it. He’s slugging (deep breath) .701 against four-seamers, .553 against sinkers, .500 against changeups, .607 against sliders, .659 against cutters, .500 against sweepers, .711 against curveballs and .458 against splitters (in just 24 at-bats).

2. Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs (2)
PCA’s rapid evolution as a hitter is nothing short of astonishing. Looking at those who have made the biggest year-to-year changes from 2025 to ‘26, Crow-Armstrong has the biggest jump in walk rate (7.5 percentage points), third biggest in hard-hit rate (7.2 percentage points), fifth biggest in bat speed (2.1 mph), 11th biggest in expected wOBA (40 points) and 12th biggest in sweet-spot rate (4.7 percentage points), among others. He’s still just 24, and he now seems like the clear NL MVP favorite …

3. Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers (5)
… Though this guy may still have something to say about that. His pending return to the mound is a factor in that, but Ohtani is also a special enough talent -- even just as a DH -- to win his fourth consecutive MVP without throwing another pitch this season. (See his four-hit, two-homer performance at Coors Field on Monday night.) It’s not as if Ohtani has gone cold to allow PCA to gain control of the MVP race, either. He’s hitting .350/.409/.738 with eight big flies in his past 20 games.

4. Pete Alonso, Orioles (not ranked)
Alonso’s first season in Baltimore after signing a five-year contract this past winter began slowly, with a .668 OPS in March/April. Since then, though, the Orioles have gotten the version of the Polar Bear that they wanted: .289/.378/.537 with 24 homers in 95 games. He’s been on a particular tear in August (1.109 OPS), which is huge for an O’s club fighting to emerge from the gaggle of AL Wild Card contenders.

5. CJ Abrams, Nationals (3)
Much of the focus lately has been on Abrams’ coming shift from shortstop to second base and his feelings about the team’s plans for that. But wherever he is on the field, the bat certainly plays. Abrams’ .886 OPS is his career high by nearly 140 points and ties him for 10th in the Majors. He’s also tied for 10th with 29 homers and tied for second with 91 RBIs. With one more homer and six more steals, he’d notch the Nats’ first 30-30 campaign since Alfonso Soriano went 40-40 in 2006.

6. Alec Burleson, Cardinals (not ranked)
Burleson entered Wednesday leading the Majors with both 33 doubles and 92 RBIs, part of a breakout season for the St. Louis first baseman. What’s most impressive is the way Burleson has steadily improved as a Major League hitter. He had a .535 OPS in a cup of coffee late in 2022 and then raised that to .691 as a rookie in ‘23, .735 in ‘24, .801 in ‘25 and now .847 in this, his age-27 campaign. Burleson still doesn’t do much damage against southpaws, but he crushes righties (.329/.405/.585 in ‘26) and has been on a roll in August (.333/.417/.714).

7. Munetaka Murakami, White Sox (9)
It’s tempting here to just submit video of Murakami’s homer on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field, in lieu of any written words. Murakami drove a Kevin Gausman fastball off the video board above the left field bleachers, which would be impressive enough if he were a right-handed batter. Murakami swings lefty, though. The 111.1 mph shot flew a projected 440 feet, making it the third-longest opposite-field dinger of the season and perhaps the most impressive-looking of the bunch.

8. Jackson Merrill, Padres (not ranked)
As a 21-year-old rookie in 2024, Merrill took the Majors by storm. He was an All-Star, a Silver Slugger winner and the NL Rookie of the Year runner-up behind Paul Skenes. His sophomore campaign was a little less spectacular but still quite solid. So it was fairly mysterious when Merrill’s OPS started with a “6” in each of the first three months of 2026. Fortunately for a Padres team battling to make it back to October, Merrill (along with teammate Fernando Tatis Jr.) finally kicked things into gear. He’s batting .311/.339/.597 since the All-Star break and has been a top-10 MLB position player over that time, in terms of FanGraphs WAR.

9. Alex Bregman, Cubs (not ranked)
Like Alonso, Bregman signed a five-year deal with a new team in the offseason, arriving with expectations of helping lead a club with high hopes for 2026. Like Alonso, he didn’t introduce himself to a new fanbase with his best foot forward. And, once more, like Alonso, he is rectifying that as the season goes along. Bregman owns an .888 OPS since July 1, with nine of his 16 total home runs, and perhaps not coincidentally, the Cubs are 26-15 in that time.

10. Jac Caglianone, Royals (not ranked)
As a 23-year-old working his way through his first full MLB season -- and as a hitter with both huge power and a lot of swing and miss in his game -- it’s not terribly surprising that Caglianone has gone through his chaotic ups and downs in 2026. He’s had three pretty quiet months at the plate, with OPS figures below .750, and two months in which he’s looked like one of the game’s elite mashers. One of those has been August, which Cags started by batting .429 with 10 extra-base hits, 20 RBIs and a 1.192 OPS over his first 16 games.

Others receiving votes: Matt Olson (Braves), Fernando Tatis Jr. (Padres), Willson Contreras (Red Sox). Seiya Suzuki (Cubs), Bryson Stott (Phillies), Griffin Conine (Marlins), Jake Bauers (Brewers), Wilyer Abreu (Red Sox), Steven Kwan (Guardians), Chandler Simpson (Rays), Bryce Harper (Phillies)

Voters: David Adler, Theo DeRosa, Jason Foster, Brent Maguire, Max Ralph, Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru, Andrew Simon