HR binge lifts young slugger nearly to top of Hitter Power Rankings

We’re nearly at the All-Star break, but it’s not too late for the Hitter Power Rankings to be turned upside down. Even at this point in the season, an impressive hot streak can send a slugger skyrocketing up the list.

Case in point: Junior Caminero. The second-time All-Star and Home Run Derby participant was tied for 10th on our preseason list, but he didn’t crack the top 10 in any of the six editions that followed. It wasn’t as if Caminero -- who hit 45 homers as a 21-year-old rookie for the Rays last year -- started poorly. He just didn’t start impressively enough to capture our voters’ attention.

That is no longer the case. Not only did Caminero make the top 10 this time, he nearly soared all the way to the top. Here are our latest Hitter Power Rankings, as decided by a panel of MLB.com voters.

All statistics are through Tuesday’s games unless otherwise noted.

1. Yordan Alvarez, Astros (Previous poll: 1)

For the third time in a row, Yordan is on top. This year’s AL All-Star starter at DH, he leads the Majors in OBP (.420), SLG (.621), OPS+ (188) and total bases (208), and he’s on the verge of reaching 30 homers for the fifth time in six seasons. Over a recent four-game span from June 30-July 4, Alvarez had three three-hit games, each of which included at least one big fly.

2. Junior Caminero, Rays (not ranked)

There he is. As far as “ways to climb from unranked to second” go, hitting 11 home runs in 11 games is a pretty good one. That’s exactly what Caminero did from June 23-July 4, slugging 1.136 over that span. Since the beginning of last year, Caminero’s 71 homers are third in MLB (behind only Kyle Schwarber and Shohei Ohtani), and remember: This is a player who just turned 23 this past Sunday.

3. Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers (2)

His latest feat? 300 home runs. Ohtani got there on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, homering for the second consecutive game and 20th time this season. It happened in his 1,101st career game with at least one plate appearance, making him the fifth fastest by that measure in MLB history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

• Remarkable facts and figures about Ohtani’s 300th home run

4. Juan Soto, Mets (5)

As difficult of a season as this has been for the Mets, at least Soto is still doing Soto things. He leads the NL in OBP (.410), SLG (.575), and OPS+ (173). Since Soto’s OPS briefly dipped below the .900 mark about a month ago, he has hit a ridiculous .364/.505/.714 with seven home runs, 19 RBIs and 22 walks over 23 games.

5. Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs (6)

A couple of weeks into the season, PCA was sparking concern with an OPS that was barely over .500. Take out his first 16 games, however, and he’s slashing .314/.413/.585 with 18 home runs and 19 stolen bases. That’s roughly a 40-40 pace and a 1.000 OPS. By FanGraphs’ measurement, Crow-Armstrong has accrued the most offensive value in the Majors since that point and trails only Alvarez and James Wood for the season.

6. James Wood, Nationals (9)

Speaking of Wood, here he is. The 6-foot-6 left-handed batter won’t turn 24 until September, yet he’s leading the NL in walks (74) and total bases (195) while bashing 25 homers. And while this is not entirely about Wood himself -- the Nats surprisingly boast one of baseball’s best offenses -- Wood’s 83 runs scored are a whopping 19 more than any other player. That’s equal to the gap between second-place Bryan Reynolds and the seven players tied for 70th place.

7. Nick Kurtz, Athletics (3)

It’s been a slow few weeks for Kurtz, who has a .582 OPS since June 16. That said, you know you’re having a strong season when even a spell like that doesn’t drop your OBP below .400 or your SLG below .500. It’s worth noting here that with the 2026 Draft starting on Saturday, it’s been just two years since the A’s selected Kurtz fourth overall out of Wake Forest.

8. Kyle Schwarber, Phillies (4)

As we wait for the 2026 Home Run Derby field to be set, it’s enticing to think about Schwarber taking his cuts in front of the home crowd at Citizens Bank Park. We’ll have to wait and see if Schwarber decides to join the Derby for the third time overall and second as a Phillie, after being eliminated in the first round in 2022. This is just Schwarber’s fifth season in Philly, and by the end of it, he could rank perhaps as high as fifth in homers in the long history of the franchise.

9. Otto Lopez, Marlins (not ranked)

It would be an understatement to say that Lopez was not on the Hitter Power Rankings radar coming into this season, but there’s only so long you can overlook a player who’s leading the Majors in hits (124), doubles (25) and batting average (.343). A 27-year-old native of the Dominican Republic, Lopez originally signed with the Blue Jays in 2016, and 10 years later, he’s found a home in Miami, which selected him off waivers from San Francisco in April 2024. Lopez batted .322 in March/April, and that is so far his lowest mark in any month of the season.

10-T. Willson Contreras, Red Sox (not ranked)

The latest entrant to the Derby field, Contreras recently became an All-Star for the fourth time, replacing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the AL roster. While it’s been a struggle for the Red Sox this year, their offseason acquisition of Contreras from the Cardinals has paid off in a big way. The 34-year-old is batting .287/.381/.545 with 20 homers, equaling his 2025 total and coming within four of his career high, set with the 2019 Cubs. In 23 games since June 12, Contreras is slugging .624.

10-T. Luis García Jr., Nationals (not ranked)

Like Lopez, García is finally breaking out, 10 years after signing as an international amateur. With that said, García is still with his original organization and also was a Top 100 prospect who showed flashes of significant potential in years past. Still, he’s taken it to a completely different level in 2026, already setting a career high with 19 homers. The 26-year-old started slowly, but if you go back two months, he leads all MLB qualifiers with a .694 SLG.

Others receiving votes: Ben Rice (Yankees), Freddie Freeman (Dodgers), Hunter Goodman (Rockies), Rafael Devers (Giants), Jordan Walker (Cardinals), Luis Arraez (Giants), Yandy Díaz (Rays), Matt Olson (Braves), Tyler Tolbert (Royals), Jake McCarthy (Rockies)

Voters: David Adler, Theo DeRosa, Brent Maguire, Brian Murphy, Max Ralph, Manny Randhawa, Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru, Andrew Simon