Ohtani Tops ESPN 2026 MLB Midseason Rankings
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- ESPN averaged rankings from 17 MLB experts for its midseason top-50 update, weighting both current production and expected future impact — a methodology that pushed Aaron Judge, typically in the No. 1 conversation, lower on the list.
- Shohei Ohtani holds the No. 1 spot despite not pitching since July 3 due to a left knee issue; the two-way star owns a 1.79 ERA and 27.9% strikeout rate on the mound while ranking third in MLB in OPS behind only Alvarez and Crow-Armstrong.
- Pete Crow-Armstrong jumped to No. 2 with a breakout season that includes league-leading stolen base totals and outs above average in center field, plus a 100-point jump in on-base percentage from 2025.
- Yordan Alvarez ranks No. 3 while chasing a Triple Crown with a .322 batting average — a 15-point lead in the batting title race, and just the 13th Triple Crown threat since 1920.
- Jacob Misiorowski claimed the No. 4 spot with a 1.76 ERA and the highest average fastball velocity ever recorded for a starter (100.6 mph); batters are hitting .147 against him, the lowest mark in the past century.
- Cristopher Sánchez ranks No. 6 while leading all MLB pitchers in WAR at 6.6, anchored by a 50⅔-inning scoreless streak in May — the longest by a left-hander.
- Cam Schlittler broke into the top 10 with a 2.36 ERA across 24 starts in his first full major league season for the Yankees, after a relatively unhyped debut last July.
Why it matters: The methodology — weighting future impact alongside current production — reshaped the list, demoting established stars like Judge and elevating 2026 breakouts. Five teams (Baltimore, Los Angeles Angels, Minnesota, Texas, San Francisco) landed zero players in the top 50, a stark talent-gap marker between contending and rebuilding franchises heading into the stretch run.
Ask SkimNews
