Ranking Shohei Ohtani and MLB's 10 Hottest Hitters in June
Shohei Ohtani is baseball's biggest star, and he has put together one of the most impressive months of his career at the plate in June.
The Los Angeles Angels superstar is hitting .383/.473/.915 with 13 home runs in 24 games, and he now leads the majors in home runs, RBI and several other offensive categories.
However, he is not the only hitter having a huge month of June, from Luis Arraez making a push at a .400 average to young stars Ronald Acuña Jr. and Fernando Tatis Jr. both leading their clubs offensive attack.
Ahead, we've ranked the 10 hottest hitters in baseball, based solely on their June production, and justified those rankings by showing where they rank among qualified hitters this month in a variety of different offensive categories.
Let's start with a long list of honorable mentions.
Honorable Mentions
1 of 11
Honorable Mentions
Ozzie Albies, ATL
Corbin Carroll, ARI
Nick Castellanos, PHI
Ezequiel Duran, TEX
Michael Harris II, ATL
Gunnar Henderson, BAL
Teoscar Hernández, SEA
Nolan Jones, COL
Royce Lewis, MIN
Matt McLain, CIN
Josh Naylor, CLE
Isaac Paredes, TB
José Ramírez, CLE
Juan Soto, SD
Alex Verdugo, BOS
Jordan Walker, STL
Christian Yelich, MIL
10. Luis Robert Jr., Chicago White Sox
2 of 11
June stats
BA: .291
OBP: .351
SLG: .663 (fourth in majors)
OPS: 1.014
H: 25
XBH: 14 (ninth)
HR: 9 (second)
RBI: 13
Off: 8.8
Finally fully healthy after playing just 166 games the last two seasons, Luis Robert Jr. has been a bright spot on an otherwise disappointing Chicago White Sox team.
The 25-year-old has 79 hits on the season and 42 have gone for extra bases, including 22 home runs to rank fourth in the majors and second only to Shohei Ohtani on the AL leaderboard.
Robert has four home runs and five RBI in his last four games, and all signs point to him being a first-time All-Star and perhaps the lone representative for the South Siders at the Midsummer Classic.
9. Lane Thomas, Washington Nationals
3 of 11
June stats
BA: .333
OBP: .364
SLG: .656 (eighth in majors)
OPS: 1.020 (10th)
H: 31 (t-ninth)
XBH: 17 (t-fourth)
HR: 6 (t-10th)
RBI: 17
Off: 9.0 (10th)
The Washington Nationals acquired Lane Thomas from the St. Louis Cardinals at the 2021 trade deadline in exchange for a two-month rental of veteran starter Jon Lester, and that has turned into an absolute steal.
The 27-year-old has a 120 OPS+ and 5.5 WAR in 268 games since joining the Nationals, and he is well on his way to a career year this season.
With his stellar month of June, Lane is now hitting .299/.347/.516 with 21 doubles, 14 home runs, 43 RBI and 55 runs setting the table out of the leadoff spot for the Nationals.
8. Eddie Rosario, Atlanta Braves
4 of 11
June stats
BA: .342
OBP: .425 (ninth in majors)
SLG: .724 (second)
OPS: 1.149 (second)
H: 26
XBH: 12
HR: 8 (t-third)
RBI: 19 (t-ninth)
Off: 10.5 (eighth)
Eddie Rosario turned a terrific 2021 postseason run into a new two-year, $18 million deal with the Atlanta Braves, and in the first season of that contract he posted a 62 OPS+ and minus-1.6 WAR in 80 games.
He hit just .239/.269/.405 over the first two months of the season and it looked like this year was shaping up to be more of the same, but he has caught fire in June and provided another potent bat to an already stacked Atlanta lineup.
The 31-year-old launched five home runs during a four-game stretch a few weeks ago, and his OPS has climbed by more than 150 points this month.
7. Christian Walker, Arizona Diamondbacks
5 of 11
June stats
BA: .367 (sixth in majors)
OBP: .426 (eighth)
SLG: .644
OPS: 1.070 (sixth)
H: 33 (t-fifth)
XBH: 17 (t-fourth)
HR: 4
RBI: 19 (t-ninth)
Off: 11.1 (fifth)
Christian Walker was one of the breakout stars of the 2022 season, posting a 126 OPS+ with 36 home runs and 94 RBI while piling up 5.1 WAR and winning NL Gold Glove honors at first base.
A significant uptick in his batting average on balls in play from .248 to .291 this season has helped him post a more well-rounded offensive stat line, with his batting average (.242 to .281), on-base percentage (.327 to .345) and slugging percentage (.477 to .528) all climbing as a result.
Only four of his 16 home runs have come in June, but he has been dialed in at the plate for a contending Arizona Diamondbacks team.
6. Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks
6 of 11
June stats
BA: .333
OBP: .460 (fourth in majors)
SLG: .654 (ninth)
OPS: 1.114 (third)
H: 27
XBH: 12
HR: 7 (t-seventh)
RBI: 21 (fourth)
Off: 10.6 (seventh)
Ketel Marte has been the de facto face of the franchise for the Arizona Diamondbacks since his breakout 2019 season when he slugged 32 home runs and tallied 6.9 WAR while finishing fourth in NL MVP voting.
Now he has seemingly taken a backseat to rising superstar Corbin Carroll, and he is thriving in a co-star role, hitting .295/.374/.526 with 15 home runs and 43 RBI in 74 games.
The 29-year-old already has three more home runs than he did in 232 more plate appearances last season, and his numbers have steadily improved every month of the season so far.
5. Corey Seager, Texas Rangers
7 of 11
June stats
BA: .370 (third in majors)
OBP: .432 (fifth)
SLG: .650 (10th)
OPS: 1.088 (fifth)
H: 37 (second)
XBH: 18 (t-second)
HR: 5
RBI: 24 (second)
Off: 10.9 (sixth)
Corey Seager missed 31 games earlier this season with a hamstring strain, but he has quickly made up for lost time since returning to action in the middle of May.
Since he was activated from the injured list on May 17, he is hitting .342/.392/.626 with 26 extra-base hits in 37 games, and those numbers have only improved since the calendar flipped to June.
His 178 OPS+ ranks third among players with at least 200 plate appearances on the season, behind only Aaron Judge (195) and Shohei Ohtani (180), and he has been a driving force for a Texas Rangers team that leads the majors with 5.92 runs per game.
4. Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves
8 of 11
June stats
BA: .343
OBP: .400
SLG: .657 (sixth in majors)
OPS: 1.057 (seventh)
H: 34 (fourth)
XBH: 15 (t-seventh)
HR: 8 (t-third)
RBI: 20 (t-fifth)
Off: 12.4 (third)
Ronald Acuña Jr. did not look like the same explosive offensive player upon returning from a torn ACL last season, finishing the year with a 112 OPS+ and only 15 home runs in 533 plate appearances.
Suffice to say he has fully shaken off the rust after another offseason of rest.
The 25-year-old is hitting .330/.404/.586 with 23 doubles, 19 home runs, 51 RBI and an MLB-leading 70 runs scored. The NL MVP front-runner is currently on pace for 39 home runs and 72 steals, and he is showing no signs of slowing down as his 1.057 OPS is the best of any month so far this year.
3. Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres
9 of 11
June stats
BA: .344 (10th in majors)
OBP: .432 (sixth)
SLG: .656 (seventh)
OPS: 1.089 (fourth)
H: 33 (t-fifth)
XBH: 18 (t-second)
HR: 6 (t-10th)
RBI: 17
Off: 15.0 (second)
After watching from the sidelines for the first 20 games of the season while finishing out his PED suspension and then starting slow upon returning, Fernando Tatis Jr. has again been one of the most exciting young players in the sport in June.
The 24-year-old hit .240/.290/.453 in 162 plate appearances through the end of May, but he kicked off June by going 3-for-4 with three doubles and four RBI and he has not taken his foot off the gas ever since.
He has 10 multi-hit games this month, and his OPS has climbed by 138 points since June 1, helping to provide a much-needed spark to an underperforming San Diego Padres lineup that was expected to be a juggernaut.
2. Luis Arraez, Miami Marlins
10 of 11
June stats
BA: .436 (first in majors)
OBP: .476 (first)
SLG: .553
OPS: 1.029 (ninth)
H: 41 (first)
XBH: 7
HR: 2
RBI: 18
Off: 9.6 (ninth)
The pursuit of a .400 batting average has been ongoing since Ted Williams last accomplished the feat in 1941, and reigning AL batting title winner Luis Arraez has been flirting with that mark all season.
In his first season with the Miami Marlins, he is hitting .399/.450/.495 in 313 plate appearances, and after a brief lull at the end of May dropped him well below the mark he is once again pushing for history thanks to a 10-game hitting streak that includes a pair of five-hit games.
The 26-year-old has put the ball in play on 269 of his 313 plate appearances, and his .436 batting average this month leads all qualified hitters by more than 50 points.
1. DH/P Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels
11 of 11
June stats
BA: .383 (second in majors)
OBP: .473 (second)
SLG: .915 (first)
OPS: 1.388 (first)
H: 36 (third)
XBH: 22 (first)
HR: 13 (first)
RBI: 26 (first)
Off: 22.4 (first)
Shohei Ohtani has homered once every 7.2 plate appearances this month, and 22 of his 36 hits have gone for extra bases as he has been a one-man wrecking crew offensively in the Los Angeles Angels lineup.
Beyond just the power production, he has also raised his batting average by 35 points, and he is now hitting .304/.386/.654 and leading the majors in home runs (28), RBI (64), slugging percentage (.654), total bases (200) and OPS+ (180) among qualified hitters.
Even without his contributions on the mound, which include a 3.02 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 127 strikeouts in 95.1 innings, he would be the AL front-runner for MVP honors on the strength of his offensive production alone.
All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and accurate through Tuesday's games.
