Ranking MLB's Top 25 Players After 3 Months of 2026 Season
Major League Baseball's 2026 All-Star Game is less than two weeks away, but who have actually been the best players through the first three months of this campaign?
Don't worry: We didn't let the fans in Canada stuff the ballot boxes for this dream roster. In fact, not a single Blue Jay cracked our top 25, while the Yankees and Phillies lead the way with three representatives apiece.
Full-season statistics were the driving force of this ranking, but there may be some recency bias in which players who were red hot in June got a nudge ahead of guys who have cooled off over the past few weeks.
Unless otherwise noted, statistics are current through the start of play on Wednesday, July 1.
Honorable Mentions
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Dylan Cease, RHP, Toronto Blue Jays—Missed a few starts with a hamstring strain and doesn't quite have enough innings pitched to qualify for an ERA title. But he's still leading the AL with 128 strikeouts, whiffing better than 36 percent of batters faced.
Bryce Harper, 1B, Philadelphia Phillies—An afterthought in the NL MVP race a month ago, Harper has rocketed into the conversation with a scorching hot run through June. He has five home runs and a .432/.469/.864 triple-slash across his last 10 games.
Davis Martin, RHP, Chicago White Sox—Has had a couple of stinkers recently, including getting lit up for nine earned runs at Yankee Stadium. He still has a 3.00 ERA for the year, though, with nine starts of at least six innings and either zero or one runs allowed.
Parker Messick, LHP, Cleveland Guardians—Would be the front-runner for AL Rookie of the Year in a world where Kevin McGonigle doesn't exist. Doesn't have a blistering fastball, but his six-pitch arsenal keeps hitters perpetually guessing.
Max Muncy, 3B, Los Angeles Dodgers—All other Dodgers pale in comparison to Shohei Ohtani, but Muncy is more than carrying his weight with 17 home runs and a slugging percentage north of .500. Quite the feat for a third baseman in his age-35 season.
Drew Rasmussen, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays—Is this the year we finally come to appreciate the run this pitcher has been on for a while now? This is his sixth consecutive season with a sub-3.00 ERA, and his 2.71 ERA since the beginning of 2021 ranks second only to Ohtani among pitchers with at least 500 innings of work. And he's better than ever this year with an AL-best 0.87 WHIP.
Chris Sale, LHP, Atlanta Braves—This would need to be a top 30 in order to find room for all the serious threats to win the NL Cy Young award, but Sale is firmly in that second tier after the dynamic duo of Jacob Misiorowski and Cristopher Sánchez. Atlanta's ace has a 2.10 ERA, which is even better than the 2.38 mark that won him a Cy Young two years ago.
Paul Skenes, RHP, Pittsburgh Pirates—Don't let the losing record (6-7) and 3.10 ERA fool you. Skenes has been, for the most part, every bit as dominant as he was across his first two seasons in the majors. He has just had some brutal luck with runners in scoring position, allowing a .345 batting average against in those situations compared to a .180 mark between 2024-25.
Juan Soto, OF, New York Mets—Mets? Terrible. Soto? Great. His .971 OPS ranks best among NL players. Kind of absurd that he only has 39 RBI to show for it, though.
Miguel Vargas, 3B, Chicago White Sox—Munetaka Murakami got all of the love through the first two months, but Vargas has been Chicago's most valuable player, on pace for close to 40 home runs and 20 stolen bases. Getting him in exchange for Michael Kopech, Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham two deadlines ago has blossomed into quite the win.
Nos. 25-22: James Wood, Zack Wheeler, Matt Olson and Junior Caminero
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25. James Wood, OF, Washington Nationals
.263/.385/.513, 21 HR, 52 RBI, 13 SB
In addition to being on pace for roughly 40 home runs and 25 stolen bases, Wood is leading the National League in runs, walks and strikeouts. The only other player in at least the past 25 years to lead his league in each of those departments was Aaron Judge in 2017. If only the Nationals could occasionally protect some of the leads Wood gives them.
24. Zack Wheeler, RHP, Philadelphia Phillies
75.1 IP, 2.03 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 0.86 WHIP, 8.8 K/9
Wheeler missed the first month of the season while recovering from thoracic outlet decompression surgery, but he has been masterful since returning in late April. The Phillies have won 10 of his 12 starts, and one of the two losses was a 1-1 ball game heading into the ninth inning. Can't exactly fault him for that one.
23. Matt Olson, 1B, Atlanta Braves
.276/.345/.530, 20 HR, 52 RBI
Though the Braves came crashing back to earth in June, Olson has continued to shine at the dish, batting .308 over his last 27 games. RBI opportunities have been few and far between as of late, resulting in just one run driven in since June 12. But the modern-day Iron Man is doing what he can while closing in on 900 consecutive games played.
22. Junior Caminero, 3B, Tampa Bay Rays
.294/.384/.555, 23 HR, 52 RBI
His defense at the hot corner remains below average, but Caminero—who turns 23 on Sunday—has cemented his status as one of the preeminent sluggers in the game today. After clubbing 45 home runs in 2025, he's on pace for a similar mark in 2026. Though, it would be more like 145 if he keeps homering like he did in the past week against Kansas City and Arizona (8 HR in 31 PA).
Nos. 21-19: Cody Bellinger, Jordan Walker and Ben Rice
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21. Cody Bellinger, OF, New York Yankees
.258/.357/.440, 11 HR, 49 RBI, 10 SB
Starting with Bellinger, buckle up for a run on guys who would have ranked a good bit higher a few weeks ago. New York's versatile outfielder has been mired in a 12-game schneid with a .122 batting average and nary an RBI. Prior to that rough patch, though, he was making a spirited push for AL MVP as the five-tooled star of a Yankees team that was starting to resemble a runaway freight train. Can he/they lock back in?
20. Jordan Walker, OF, St. Louis Cardinals
.288/.342/.511, 18 HR, 58 RBI, 10 SB
Through his first 50 games played, Walker had 15 home runs and 20 bases on balls, pacing him to a .966 OPS and what sure looked like an obvious spot on the All-Star roster. In 30 games since then, however, just three home runs, five walks and a .683 OPS. Hard to argue with that .288 batting average, though, after he could scarcely hit the broad side of a barn over the previous two seasons.
19. Ben Rice, 1B, New York Yankees
.268/.357/.564, 23 HR, 54 RBI
One month into the season, Rice reasonably could've been No. 1 on this list, finishing April with 10 home runs and a 1.157 OPS. However, June was a much different story. He did club six home runs, but he didn't do much else en route to a .196 batting average and .657 OPS. All told, though, his 45-homer pace has been massive for the Yankees.
Nos. 18-16: Andy Pages, Chase Burns and Otto Lopez
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18. Andy Pages, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers
.271/.329/.479, 16 HR, 60 RBI, 8 SB
In Pages, we've got one more recent struggler before we ramp back up to stars who have been hot as of late. The Dodgers outfielder was batting .412 with five home runs in his first 19 games of the season. That was never going to last, but he hasn't even been able to stay within shouting distance of a .300 batting average, batting just .215 dating back to late May. He's still leading the NL in RBI, though, and has remained the Dodgers' staple in center field.
17. Chase Burns, RHP, Cincinnati Reds
91.2 IP, 2.36 ERA, 3.17 FIP, 1.08 WHIP, 11.0 K/9
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 draft made a strong first impression in his 43.1 innings pitched last season. But he has basically halved what was a 4.57 ERA in 2025 in becoming the ace of Cincinnati's staff. Burns has struck out at least seven batters in 11 of his last 12 appearances, including a season-high 10 Ks in his last outing in Pittsburgh.
16. Otto Lopez, SS, Miami Marlins
.333/.366/.486, 7 HR, 37 RBI, 16 SB
Lopez entered 2026 as a career .260 hitter, but he is the current frontrunner for the NL batting crown. He's showing no signs of slowing down, either, batting .322 in April, .339 in May and .340 in June. And now that the Marlins are blazing hot and right in the thick of the NL wild card mix, the MLB leader in hits is getting some much-deserved national attention.
Nos. 15-13: Corbin Carroll, Dillon Dingler and Byron Buxton
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15. Corbin Carroll, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks
.272/.360/.521, 13 HR, 43 RBI, 9 SB
Could Carroll be headed for the elusive 20/20/20/20 club? Both Jimmy Rollins and Curtis Granderson had 20 doubles, triples, home runs and stolen bases in 2007, but it has otherwise only been accomplished twice in MLB history. With 10 triples and 17 doubles to go along with the 13 home runs and nine stolen bases noted above, though, Carroll is the most viable candidate we've had in quite some time.
14. Dillon Dingler, C, Detroit Tigers
.264/.327/.529, 19 HR, 59 RBI
While he isn't exactly threatening to match Cal Raleigh's 60 home runs from yesteryear, Dingler is doing everything he can to keep the Tigers from embracing a massive fire sale. He hit .331 with eight home runs in June alone, and the 2025 Gold Glove recipient has remained one of the most valuable defensive assets in the entire sport. It's a travesty that he didn't make it to Phase 2 of All-Star voting, but bet he'll be named one of the AL's reserves next week.
13. Byron Buxton, OF, Minnesota Twins
.268/.325/.573, 25 HR, 43 RBI, 7 SB
Since the beginning of last season, Buxton has played in 199 games, amassing 60 home runs and 31 stolen bases. It has been a delight to see the 32-year-old center fielder mostly healthy for a change, and fingers crossed that he keeps it going. If he gets to 43 home runs, he'll join Harmon Killebrew (six times) as the only Twin to do so. And if he gets to 50, he'll be the first Twin to ever reach that threshold.
Nos. 12-10: JJ Wetherholt, Kevin McGonigle and Mason Miller
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12. JJ Wetherholt, 2B, St. Louis Cardinals
.261/.358/.405, 12 HR, 34 RBI, 9 SB
Wetherholt is starting to run away with the NL Rookie of the Year race while helping to keep the Cardinals in the thick of the NL wild card race. His homer rate has slowed considerably after clubbing seven by the end of April, but he entered Tuesday batting .327 over his last 25 games, with nearly three times as many hits (33) as strikeouts (12). He is also playing exceptional defense at second base, battling Pete Crow-Armstrong and Bobby Witt Jr. for first place in the majors in both fielding run value and outs above average.
11. Kevin McGonigle, SS/3B, Detroit Tigers
.283/.394/.418, 6 HR, 30 RBI, 11 SB
McGonigle's discipline as a 21-year-old is outrageous. He has three more walks (54) than strikeouts (51), ranks top 10 in the majors in on-base percentage, is a perfect 11-for-11 in stolen base attempts and has taken more bases than all players not named Bobby Witt Jr. Many top prospects need some time to adjust to the higher difficulty level when they first make it to the majors, but McGonigle is making this look easy.
10. Mason Miller, RHP, San Diego Padres
34.2 IP, 0.78 ERA, 0.42 FIP, 0.84 WHIP, 17.1 K/9
It's always tough to know where to rank closers, as they end up pitching one-third as many innings as starters. However, anything worse than top 10 would feel disrespectful here, as Miller's FIP is the lowest in MLB history for a season with at least 30 innings pitched. He has struck out 50 percent of batters faced this season and has yet to allow a home run or blow a save. We're definitely in "2003 Eric Gagne" territory here, and we'd be surely talking about the possibility of a Cy Young if he were in the American League.
Nos. 9-7: Cam Schlittler, Nick Kurtz and Kyle Schwarber
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9. Cam Schlittler, RHP, New York Yankees
104.0 IP, 2.08 ERA, 2.68 FIP, 0.96 WHIP, 10.6 K/9
Schlittler had a rare rough outing on Tuesday night against the Tigers. Not only did he allow multiple home runs in a start for the first time this season, but he was shelled for four of them. Prior to that, though, he was leading the AL in ERA, FIP, K/BB, WAR and probably a few other acronyms of note, well on his way to starting for the American League in the All-Star Game.
8. Nick Kurtz, 1B, Athletics
.276/.421/.516, 19 HR, 64 RBI, 7 SB
It's clear at this point that playing home games at Sutter Health Park / Las Vegas Ballpark is akin to playing home games at Coors Field in the 1990s. But even taking that inflation factor into consideration, Kurtz has been some kind of special barely 200 games into his MLB career. He entered July leading the majors in both walks drawn and runs batted in and might be the top challenger to Yordan Alvarez for AL MVP.
7. Kyle Schwarber, DH, Philadelphia Phillies
.256/.369/.583, 30 HR, 55 RBI
Schwarber hit 187 home runs over the past four seasons with the Phillies, or roughly 47 per year. He has been one of the best sluggers in the sport for some time now. Yet, he presently has career-best marks in both slugging and OPS, and is on pace to surpass the NL-best 56 home runs that he hit in 2025. The magic number among Phillies fans is 58, as in Ryan Howard's franchise record when he won NL MVP 20 years ago. Schwarber might break that record.
Nos. 6-4: Bobby Witt Jr., Pete Crow-Armstrong and Yordan Alvarez
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6. Bobby Witt Jr., SS, Kansas City Royals
.294/.367/.479, 12 HR, 36 RBI, 28 SB
Witt recently missed a week of action after a scary-looking knee injury. But that knee looked just fine on Tuesday when he went 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs—albeit fittingly in a 10-4 loss for the last-place Royals. Witt started slow on the slugging front, not hitting his first home run until his 28th game. Since then, he has operated at a 162-game pace of 37 home runs and 58 stolen bases.
5. Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF, Chicago Cubs
.284/.373/.515, 18 HR, 46 RBI, 20 SB
After homering in just one of his first 19 games, PCA caught fire for a 49-game stretch with 16 home runs, 12 stolen bases and an OPS of 1.054. That was a 162-game pace of 53 home runs and 40 stolen bases—not much unlike the heater he was on through the first 92 games of last season, pacing at 44 homers and 48 swipes. On behalf of Cubs fans, here's hoping he can keep that going into the second half this time around.
4. Yordan Alvarez, DH/OF, Houston Astros
.314/.428/.618, 26 HR, 60 RBI
For a while there, it looked like Alvarez was going to flirt with breaking Aaron Judge's AL record of 62 home runs in a single season. He had 11 through his first 26 games and got to 20 in game No. 56 before tapering off a bit over the past month. He did hit No. 26 in grand salami fashion on Tuesday night, though, raising his already MLB-best OPS a few more points in the process. Perhaps that was the beginning of another big surge for the AL MVP favorite.
Nos. 3-1: Cristopher Sanchez, Jacob Misiorowski and Shohei Ohtani
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3. Cristopher Sánchez, LHP, Philadelphia Phillies
117.0 IP, 2.00 ERA, 2.31 FIP, 1.09 WHIP, 10.5 K/9
On Tuesday night, Sánchez went seven scoreless innings in a win over the Pirates. Could that have been the beginning of another outrageous run of doughnut-posting dominance, like his month of May with 39 scoreless innings pitched? Sánchez almost won the NL Cy Young last year, finishing first runner-up to Paul Skenes. He may be in the same boat this year, though, if The Miz stays healthy.
2. Jacob Misiorowski, RHP, Milwaukee Brewers
99.0 IP, 1.45 ERA, 1.84 FIP, 0.77 WHIP, 13.3 K/9
Misiorowski's starts have become appointment television unlike anything in recent years. Sure, Paul Skenes' starts were a big deal over the past two seasons, but you weren't making sure to watch those games because of the possibility of witnessing the fastest pitch in MLB history. And just as preposterous as the velocity is the longevity, as Misiorowski has reeled off nine consecutive quality starts with a cumulative line of 61.0 IP, 26 H, 4 ER, 12 BB, 87 K. Those are video game numbers, and I dare say no one is going to be mad about him making the All-Star team this year.
1. Shohei Ohtani, RHP/DH, Los Angeles Dodgers
.296/.412/.542, 18 HR, 50 RBI, 6 SB
79.2 IP, 1.58 ERA, 2.56 FIP, 0.90 WHIP, 9.7 K/9
Were it just the hitting or just the pitching, Ohtani would probably check in somewhere in the Nos. 10-15 range. But the fact that he's simultaneously doing both at an elite level is just an unfair fight in any sort of player ranking conversation. Both PCA and Schwarber are having great seasons, yet both are extreme long shots for NL MVP in Ohtani's rearview mirror. This might be his magnum opus.
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