The Most Electrifying Player on Every MLB Team in 2023
From Aaron Judge and Pete Alonso clubbing home runs in New York to Esteury Ruiz stealing all of the bases for Oakland and Jhoan Duran and Jordan Hicks bringing copious amounts of gas out of the bullpen for Minnesota and St. Louis, respectively, there is electrifying talent all over the Major League Baseball map.
Though there are plenty of cases where the best player, the fan favorite and the most electrifying player on the roster are one in the same, our goal was to identify the ones who do the best job of providing that proverbial spark for each team.
Be it from mammoth home runs, stolen bases, dominant starts, flame-throwing relief appearances or something else altogether, these are the players around whom you try to plan your restroom and concession stands breaks when you're in the stadium, because you don't want to miss anything special.
Teams are presented in alphabetical order within each division. Unless otherwise noted, statistics are current through the start of play Saturday.
American League East
1 of 6
Baltimore Orioles: Cedric Mullins, OF
Catcher Adley Rutschman gets all of the Wins Above Replacement love, and set-up man Yennier Cano certainly generated a lot of buzz while just about entirely shutting down opposing hitters until a couple of weeks ago. But Mullins was Baltimore's 30 HR/30 SB guy two years ago and is still one of the biggest threats in the majors to either homer or steal a bag in any inning in which he comes to the plate. He recently landed on the IL with a groin strain, but hopefully it's not too serious. Mullins is integral to this team remaining a factor in the AL East.
Boston Red Sox: Chris Sale, LHP
"Stuff" has never been the issue with Sale. "Health" has been the problem, limiting him to 48.1 innings pitched from 2020-22. And, sadly, he had to leave his most recent start in the fourth inning due to soreness in his pitching shoulder. Hopefully the inflammation that resulted in a trip to the IL isn't too much of a long-term injury, because Sale had been looking like his old self up until that point, logging 47.0 innings with a 2.87 ERA over his last eight starts.
New York Yankees: Aaron Judge, OF
Who else could it be? Judge was a non-stop talking point during last year's 62-homer campaign. And for a large chunk of May, he was looking like a more fully-evolved version of that record-setter of yesteryear. In 16 games played from May 13-30, he hit .390 with 12 home runs. That's a 162-game pace of 122 home runs. Absurd.
Tampa Bay Rays: Wander Franco, SS
Pick a Ray, really. Shane McClanahan is a very strong early candidate for AL Cy Young. Randy Arozarena is hitting well. Yandy Diaz is hitting even better. And Josh Lowe is on track to flirt with a 40/40 season. But Franco has been the most valuable position player in the American League, batting almost .300 with seven home runs, 20 stolen bases and some incredible defense. It feels inevitable that he's going to provide some sort of positive contribution every single night.
Toronto Blue Jays: Bo Bichette, SS
Bichette is on the short list of players who are running less often than in years past. He has just two stolen bases thus far after swiping 25 bags in 2021, so he's not providing any sort of spark in that regard. But with two five-hit games already this season, an AL-best 132 total bases and way better defense than he played in 2022, it'd be pretty hard to complain about a dip in stolen bases here.
American League Central
2 of 6
Chicago White Sox: Luis Robert Jr., OF
Talk about a tale of two seasons. Robert had a triple-slash of .213/.254/.407 in March/April before hitting .310/.373/.640 in May. More than half of his hits (28 of 54) have gone for extra bases. And he is well on his way to what would be the second Gold Glove of his young career, leading all centerfielders in FanGraphs defensive rating.
Cleveland Guardians: José Ramírez, 3B
Thus far this season, not much has been electrifying in Cleveland. Could probably make the case here for Logan Allen, who has been an intriguing late arrival in the AL Rookie of the Year conversation, punctuated by going seven scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts against the Orioles a few days ago. But if there's ever going to be a spark for the disappointing Guardians, we're all expecting it to come from Ramírez, right? And he has been hitting pretty well with an OPS of .793.
Detroit Tigers: Riley Greene, OF
Detroit had two strong candidates in Greene and Eduardo Rodriguez, but they unfortunately both landed on the IL in the past few days. Not likely to be short stays on the IL, either, as Greene has a stress fracture in his leg while the ruptured tendon in Rodriguez's finger is the type of thing typically only seen in rock climbers. We'll go with Greene, though, as the 22-year-old was a fast-rising star, living up to the hype that preceded him last spring. Among his many talents, he is responsible for three of Detroit's four triples this season.
Kansas City Royals: Bobby Witt Jr., SS/3B
We go straight from the No. 5 pick in the 2019 draft (Greene) to the No. 2 pick in that draft. To put it gently, Witt has struggled to get on base. Among qualified hitters, only Miami's Jean Segura (.258) entered play Saturday with a lower OBP than Witt's .265 mark. But when he does get on base, buckle up. Witt has 10 home runs, eight doubles and an MLB-best four triples among his 53 hits, and he has stolen 17 bases. In one game against Washington last weekend, he went 4-for-5 with two homers, a double and a stolen base. (Naturally, however, the Royals still lost the game.)
Minnesota Twins: Jhoan Duran, RHP
It's baffling that Duran only averages 12.5 K/9, because he has the fastest, most unhittable stuff in the majors. He has unleashed multiple 104 MPH fastballs, this to go along with a "splinker" that hits triple digits and a curveball that would be hard enough to hit if you weren't also worried about that blazing fastball. Duran has a 1.17 ERA and 0.91 WHIP and is arguably the best closer in baseball—even though he only has eight saves.
American League West
3 of 6
Houston Astros: Yordan Alvarez, OF/DH
Not only is Alvarez ridiculously good and ridiculously strong, but he has a David Ortiz-like knack for doing his best work in the clutch. Per Baseball-Reference, Alvarez is batting .469/.526/1.188 in "high leverage" situations this season and has hit four ninth-inning home runs. His overall batting average (.279) is a bit below where it was last season (.306), but at least he is making his hits count.
Los Angeles Angels: Shohei Ohtani, RHP/DH
Here's a sampling of categories in which Shohei Ohtani was leading the Angels at the start of play Friday: HR (15), RBI (38), SB (7), 3B (2), Total Bases (115), Slugging (.530), Wins (5), K/9 (12.5) and H/9 (4.7). There's not a more electrifying player in the majors, and the impending Othani-centered circus that will come at both the trade deadline and the beginning of free agency will be a reminder of that axiom.
Oakland Athletics: Esteury Ruiz, OF
Would you believe an Oakland A leads the majors in three categories? Ruiz has the most stolen bases (28), has been caught stealing the most times (five, tied with five others) and has been hit by the most pitches (12). Of course, it's the steals that make Ruiz so electrifying. He swiped 85 bags in 114 minor league games last season and may well match that feat if he can keep getting on base at a good clip. It sure would be something, too, because the only players to eclipse 70 in a season in the past quarter century were Jose Reyes (78 in 2007) and Tony Womack (72 in 1999).
Seattle Mariners: Julio Rodríguez, OF
Rodríguez started slow, batting .205 into mid-May. But he hit .321 with four home runs and four stolen bases over his final 19 games of the month. That included a six-game streak with two hits in each game. And there was no player better suited to debut Seattle's trident home run prop.
Texas Rangers: Jacob deGrom, RHP
Just like Boston's Chris Sale, health hasn't exactly been on deGrom's side over the past few years. But no pitcher is more lethal when healthy. In 32 starts dating back to the start of 2021, deGrom has a 2.03 ERA, a 0.65 WHIP, a 14.1 K/9 and an absurd 12.7 K/BB ratio. He has won two Cy Youngs, and he'd have at least two more if he could just stay on the mound.
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National League East
4 of 6
Atlanta Braves: Ronald Acuña Jr., OF
Though it was momentarily, slightly tempting to go with Spencer Strider and his unreal 15.0 K/9 through 11 starts, it would be malpractice to put anyone other than Acuña in this spot. When he homers, they're typically moon shots that go viral. And when he doesn't homer, he's still one of the best in the business at both getting on base and then stealing a few more of them. Acuña was looking the part of NL MVP when he tore his ACL midway through the 2021 campaign, and he has been even better this season.
Miami Marlins: Jazz Chisholm Jr., OF
Chisholm missed over 100 games last season, had a pair of IL stints in 2021 and has been out for the past three weeks with turf toe. But when he's healthy, he's just so much fun to watch. Since the beginning of 2022, Chisholm has a 162-game pace of 34 home runs, 100 RBI and 43 stolen bases. He also made the transition from second base to center field without any issues.
New York Mets: Kodai Senga, RHP
Shoutout to Pete Alonso and his MLB-leading 20 home runs, but Senga has done the seemingly impossible in becoming even more of a "must watch the Mets when he's starting" guy than both Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. The electricity can vanish in a hurry when he's walking guys left and right, but Senga struck out 12 Rays on May 17 and went seven one-hit innings against the Phillies two starts later. He's averaging 11.5 K/9 with more than half of those strikeouts coming via the fabled ghost fork.
Philadelphia Phillies: Bryce Harper, DH
In late April, this would've been a tough call between Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh, as those 25-year-olds were battling each other for "first runner-up to Luis Arraez for NL batting crown." But they both came crashing back to earth in May while Harper made his remarkably fast return from Tommy John Surgery and immediately started hitting like an MVP again. (Well, at least when the bases are empty. He's batting .292 overall, but is just 4-for-35 with runners on base.)
Washington Nationals: Ildemaro Vargas, Utility
Vargas doesn't play a ton, getting just 11 starts thus far in 2023. But since getting called back up in early May, there's just something different about this Nationals club on the days when he does play. He hit .382 in the month of May—with no walks and just one strikeout, incessantly putting the ball in play—and made starts at second, third, short and left. He's the living embodiment of the "Put me in, coach" song, and Davey Martinez should probably be doing it more often.
National League Central
5 of 6
Chicago Cubs: Christopher Morel, Utility
Morel has cooled off considerably over the past week-plus, but he mashed nine home runs in his first 12 games of the season after getting called up in early May. The Cubs merely went 4-8 in those games as he received little to no help in his quest to carry the team, but his arrival should have been the spark that brought Chicago back from its disappointing start to the season.
Cincinnati Reds: Elly De La Cruz, SS/3B
He hasn't even made his MLB debut yet, but De La Cruz has been trending on Twitter more often than any player this season, as baseball fans continue to marvel at his ability to annihilate pitches. If you insist upon someone who is actually in the majors, though, Hunter Greene is extremely deserving of this spot. Greene throws harder than any other qualified starting pitcher and has made four starts with at least 10 strikeouts, including going six hitless innings against the Cubs on May 26.
Milwaukee Brewers: Devin Williams, RHP
Williams coming out of the bullpen to put the finishing touches on a victory has been one of the surest things in baseball. He has a 0.48 ERA and 0.80 WHIP, with the lone run allowed coming on a meaningless solo shot by Thairo Estrada at the end of what was a 7-2 ballgame. His whiff rate isn't quite as high as it was in recent seasons, but since the beginning of 2020, he has averaged 14.6 K/9.
Pittsburgh Pirates: Bryan Reynolds, OF
People have kind of stopped paying attention to Reynolds after he signed his big contract extension and after the Pirates started fading. But he was a walking inferno early in the season, batting .448 with five home runs and 13 RBI in his first seven games. Reynolds then went more than a month without homering, yet continued to lead the Pirates in RBI while also stealing more than his fair share of bags.
St. Louis Cardinals: Jordan Hicks, RHP
Hicks has always been a flamethrower, but this year he is generating more swings and misses than usual. He got out to a rocky start for the first two-plus weeks. However, since April 16, he has a 1.59 ERA with 29 strikeouts in 17.0 innings pitched (15.4 K/9). Walks and wild pitches do remain a concern, but that just makes him more of a wild card on the mound.
National League West
6 of 6
Arizona Diamondbacks: Corbin Carroll, OF
NL Cy Young hopeful Zac Gallen would also be a great choice here, but Carroll gets the edge for making an impact on a seemingly nightly basis. He went through a brief dry spell in mid-May, but through 31 games, Carroll was hitting .320 and on pace for 26 home runs and 52 stolen bases. And with nine dingers and 16 swipes, he's still in good shape for a possible 25/45 campaign.
Colorado Rockies: Ryan McMahon, 3B/2B
Simply put, there's not much worth getting excited about in Colorado. But at least McMahon has been hot as of late, batting .500 (17-of-34) with five home runs dating back to May 25. He now has nine home runs on the season, good for three more than his closest teammates. He's also tied for the team lead in both doubles (16) and triples (two) and is no slouch on defense, primarily at the hot corner. Locking him up through 2027 on a six-year, $70 million deal was a rare savvy move by this franchise.
Los Angeles Dodgers: Freddie Freeman, 1B
Could make the case for rookie Bobby Miller here, as he has brought the heat and a 1.64 ERA through the first two MLB starts of his career. But Freeman has emerged as the one person who might be able to keep Ronald Acuña Jr. from running away with NL MVP. Freeman hit .400 in the month of May with six home runs, 24 extra-base hits and four stolen bases for good measure. In fact, the 33-year-old is leading the Dodgers with eight stolen bases, rapidly approaching his career-high of 13.
San Diego Padres: Fernando Tatis Jr., OF
There haven't been nearly as many viral bat flips as there were before the whole steroids/ringworm debacle, but Tatis is still one of the most exciting young talents in the game today, with 162-game paces of roughly 40 home runs and 27 stolen bases. He has also adjusted well to life as a full-time right fielder. He has committed a pair of errors, but his range has been excellent, resulting in the best FanGraphs defensive rating among right fielders.
San Francisco Giants: Logan Webb, RHP
Through four starts, Webb was 0-4 with a 4.94 ERA. But since then, he has reeled off eight consecutive quality starts with a 1.95 ERA. And over the past two seasons, he has been more of the latter than the former, putting together a 2.93 ERA dating back to the start of 2021. Webb doesn't generate a ton of whiffs and he rarely even flirts with triple digits on the radar gun, so he's more of a slow burn than some sort jolt of electricity. But his starts are cause for excitement in San Francisco.
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