Some of baseball’s best pure sluggers are about to be back in action. The final ranking of the offseason, here are the top 10 designated hitters for the 2024 season.
Shohei Ohtani is truly a one-of-one specimen on the baseball field. In 2024, though, he’ll be a designated hitter after his Tommy John Surgery. Now a three-time All-Star and two-time American League Most Valuable Player with the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani will be competing with the other LA team. Ohtani put together the best offensive season of his career in 2023, by slugging 44 home runs and leading baseball in slugging percentage and OPS. He only played in 135 games as a hitter last season, so a full season with his focus at the plate will pay dividends for an already talented Los Angeles roster.
Yordan Alvarez didn’t make the top 10 outfielders list, because we view him more as a designated hitter. He’s one of the best pure sluggers in the game, and you can make the argument for him to be No. 1 on this list. Since his 2019 MLB debut with the Houston Astros, Alvarez has a .978 OPS — third-best in baseball — and 129 home runs. Alvarez has 30+ home runs and 20+ doubles in each of the past three seasons. He only played in 114 games in 2023, but he still crushed 31 long balls. In a full season, that would have equaled 44. Alvarez is the best hitter for the Astros, a team aiming for their record eighth consecutive Championship Series.
While Kyle Schwarber played more games in left field than at designated hitter last season, Bryce Harper’s long-term move to first base could allow for more DH starts. Schwarber is an interesting hitter, because he could change the game’s outcome with one swing, walk or strikeout. He was second in baseball with 47 home runs in 2023, only behind Matt Olson’s 54. Schwarber struck out a league-leading 215 times, totaled 126 walks — second in baseball — and only had a .197 batting average. Still, when his powerful lefty bat gets ahold of the ball, it’s likely a fan goes home with a souvenir.
11-year MLB veteran Marcell Ozuna is one of the top 10 designated hitters for the 2024 season. Last year, he had the best season of his career in 142 games as the Atlanta Braves’ DH. He smacked 40 home runs, 29 doubles and drove in 100 runs. His play earned him a top-20 finish in the NL MVP race. Ozuna is an important bat to the Braves’ recent run of success in the NL, and he’ll continue to be vital in 2024.
The New York Mets’ J.D. Martinez is entering his age-36 season in 2024, but he still remains one of the top 10 designated hitters in baseball. Playing in parts of 13 MLB seasons with five different teams, Martinez has 315 career home runs. He is a six-time All-Star and has made three consecutive All-Star appearances. In 2023, he hit 33 home runs with the Dodgers and boasted a .572 slugging percentage. He’s getting up there in age, but he can still provide 30+ home runs, 30+ double power to the lineup.
6. Jorge Soler
Already a 10-year veteran, Jorge Soler made his first All-Star appearance in 2023. He torched 36 home runs for the Miami Marlins last season. His best season, however, came in 2019 with the Kansas City Royals. He led the AL with 48 home runs and finished 21st in the AL MVP race. Soler signed with the San Francisco Giants during the offseason, and he’ll attempt to provide power to a lineup competing in a tough NL West division.
Giancarlo Stanton is still a force at the plate. One of the purest sluggers of the past decade, he’s hit 402 home runs in his 14-season career. In 2017, when he was still playing in Miami, Stanton crushed 59 home runs en route to his first and only MVP. He hasn’t remained as healthy over the past two seasons — only playing 211 games since 2022 — but when he’s on the field he crushes the ball. If he carries his spring training performance against the Pittsburgh Pirates into 2024, he’ll cruise his way back to the upper echelon of sluggers in 2024.
The Boston Red Sox’s Masataka Yoshida jumps into the top 10 designated hitters, following his 2023 rookie campaign. While Yoshida doesn’t have the home run numbers like the guys above him, he’s still a force at the plate. In 140 games last season, he had a batting average just under .300, provided 15 home runs and was an above-average hitter via OPS+ (109). He opened the season on a strong note and was one of the early-season Rookie of the Year favorites. He finished sixth overall, but will be an important bat for the Red Sox during his five-year contract.
9. Eloy Jimenez
Eloy Jimenez is entering his sixth MLB season and has been an important bat for the Chicago White Sox. He finished fourth in the 2019 AL Rookie of the Year race, then followed that up by earning the Silver Slugger Award in left field during the COVID-19 2020 campaign. Over the past three seasons, he has mainly slotted as a designated hitter, primarily due to injury concerns. He has played in only 259 games over the past three seasons. If Jimenez can remain healthy, he can be a positive bat for a rebuilding White Sox team.
10. Wyatt Langford
To end our top 10 designated hitters ranking, we have a player who has not made his MLB debut yet. Wyatt Langford, MLB.com’s No. 6 prospect to start the season, has been a force since he was taken fourth overall by the Texas Rangers in the 2023 draft. Langford dominated in four levels of professional baseball last season, and he will be the primary DH for the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers. He will likely make his highly-anticipated debut for Texas on Thursday, when the Rangers open the 2024 campaign against the Chicago Cubs at Globe Life Field. He hit six home runs during spring training, in only 71 plate appearances. It’s possible for Langford to skyrocket up these rankings if his impeccable play continues into the regular season.
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