Power surges push pair of sluggers up the Rankings

2:35 PM UTC

Spoiler alert: is the No. 1 hitter in baseball, according to votes cast by a group of MLB.com experts.

That shouldn't be very surprising. Judge has been MLB's most productive batter for the better part of five years and is putting together another fabulous season.

The real intrigue comes just after Judge. Nos. 2 and 3 belong to a couple of NL East boppers who have taken sizeable leaps up these rankings. Here are our fourth Hitter Power Rankings of the 2026 season.

All statistics updated through Tuesday's games unless otherwise noted.

1. , Yankees (Previously: 2)
The man who has finished each of the past four seasons with an OPS over 1.000 is at it again. The Yankees' captain entered April 26 with a relatively mundane .915 OPS. He has raised that mark by 107 points since, including Wednesday's game against the Orioles. Judge has hit seven homers over his past 18 games, giving him an AL-high 16 home runs on the year. That puts him on pace for 58 dingers, which would give him five seasons with at least 50, breaking a tie with Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Babe Ruth for the most such seasons in MLB history.

2. , Braves (7)
Olson has made a couple of adjustments this season to lift the ball into the air more often. It's resulted in what looks like the early stages of a career year for the 11-season vet. He is the National League leader in runs, RBIs, extra-base hits, total bases and OPS. And after falling shy of 30 homers in each of the past two years, Olson is on pace for 54 home runs, which would tie his personal best from 2023, when he finished fourth in the NL MVP voting.

3. , Phillies (unranked)
Would Schwarber have made this top 10 a week ago? Maybe not, but over the past week, all he's done is go deep six times and tie a Phillies franchise record by homering in five consecutive games entering Wednesday's tilt against the Red Sox. Schwarber has nine home runs and an .810 slugging percentage over his past 15 games, giving him an MLB-best 17 home runs on the season. It's no coincidence that the Phillies won 11 of those 15 games and appear to have righted their ship after a disappointing first month.

4. , Astros (1)
Alvarez drops three spots amid a 7-for-41 slump at the plate since the start of May. He has just one home run and 17 strikeouts over his previous 46 plate appearances. Ten of those K's have come in his last 14 at-bats, which is a total anomaly for a player with a sub-20% career K rate. A couple of trying weeks can't erase how sublime Alvarez was in March and April. He still sits among the MLB leaders in a bevy of metrics while carrying a lofty .308/.413/.616 slash line and a 180 wRC+, which is fourth-best in the Majors.

5. , Yankees (3)
Meanwhile, Rice owned the best wRC+ in the big leagues (193) entering Wednesday night's action. He missed four games recently due to a left hand contusion, but his opposite-field home run in Baltimore on Monday helped quiet any thoughts of a lingering issue. No matter who is on the mound or what they are throwing, it's tough to beat the 27-year-old first baseman right now. He has an OPS above 1.000 against right-handed and left-handed pitchers, and he is slugging pretty well against each of the three pitch groups.

6. , Athletics (unranked)
It's all coming together for "Bangeliers." The A's catcher hit his 100th career home run on Tuesday in what was his MLB-leading 19th multihit performance of the season. After batting .234 over his first four campaigns, Langeliers' .340 average is tops in the AL, as are his 52 hits. His 98 total bases are tied with Alvarez for the most in the Junior Circuit. He's especially been on a tear over his past 12 games, producing a .431/.474/.784 slash line with 10 extra-base hits in 57 plate appearances. You can actually trace Langeliers' breakout season back to last year's All-Star break. In 94 games since that point, his .647 slugging percentage is the best in the sport (minimum 300 PA).

7. , Brewers (unranked)
Turang feels a little out of place surrounded by all these hulking power hitters. But Milwaukee's 190-pound second baseman -- who was known more for his glove than his bat during his first two-plus seasons in the league -- has transformed into a legit slugger over the past nine months. Since the beginning of August, his 170 wRC+ trails only Judge, Rice and Langeliers among qualified batters. This season, Turang's barrel rate, hard-hit rate and average exit velocity are all well above the Major League median. His .424 on-base percentage is tied with the O's Taylor Ward for the best in the Majors, and his .519 slugging percentage is actually lower than his .540 expected slugging, which ranks above the 90th percentile in MLB.

8. , Phillies (unranked)
It's not just Schwarber who's helping the Phils get on track. Over that same 15-game span, Harper has four homers, a .390 OBP and a .600 slugging percentage. He's not making hard contact as often as in years past, but his strikeout rate is at a career-low 16.1%, and his barrel rate remains a strong 14.6%. Harper is specifically crushing breaking pitches -- curveballs, sliders, sweepers, slurves, knuckleballs -- this year. His .745 slug against those offerings is 324 points better than last year and is at least 84 points better than anyone else this season. (min. 50 PA ending on breaking pitches)

9. , Cardinals (unranked)
To anyone who thought that Walker's hot start to 2026 was just an early-season flash in the pan, it's time to reconsider. He did end April with a small slide, but he has perked right back up in May, with a .343 average and a 1.081 OPS through 10 games this month. Even more encouraging is that Walker, who posted an inflated 31.8% K rate in '25, has an equal number of walks and strikeouts (seven) through 42 May plate appearances. He's also stolen two bases this month and is on pace for a 44-homer, 28-steal year.

10. , Angels (4)
Trout is in a bit of a rut. With Wednesday's 0-for-4 showing against the Guardians, he has a .694 OPS and just two extra-base hits through 12 games this month. He's also struck out 21 times in 51 plate appearances. But given how often he draws walks (20.0% BB rate) and how often he makes optimal contact (22.5% barrel rate), one of the greatest players in the game's history is likely to find his way out of this valley soon.

Others receiving votes: Bobby Witt Jr. (Royals), Byron Buxton (Twins), Max Muncy (Dodgers), Munetaka Murakami (White Sox), James Wood (Nationals), Cody Bellinger (Yankees), Andy Pages (Dodgers), Kazuma Okamoto (Blue Jays), Julio Rodríguez (Mariners), Mickey Moniak (Rockies), CJ Abrams (Nationals), Konnor Griffin (Pirates), Brandon Marsh (Phillies), Brandon Lowe (Pirates), Ildemaro Vargas (D-backs)

Voters: David Adler, Jason Catania, Jared Greenspan, Brent Maguire, Brian Murphy, Manny Randhawa, Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru, Andrew Simon