Best Designated Hitters in MLB 2026: Shohei Ohtani Leads the Top 9
Shohei Ohtani is the best designated hitter in MLB in 2026, ahead of Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Schwarber, and Rafael Devers. See the full top 9 by Statcast-derived card rating, and why DH is the one lineup spot where rankings work differently from every fielding position.
Who is the best designated hitter in MLB right now?
Shohei Ohtani is the best designated hitter in MLB in 2026 by Legends Deck's Statcast-derived overall rating, followed by Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Schwarber, Rafael Devers, Brent Rooker, Marcell Ozuna, and Giancarlo Stanton. Ohtani takes his at-bats at DH on the days he isn't starting on the mound for the Dodgers, and his two-way card rating tops the entire player pool.
| Rank | Player | Team | Card Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shohei Ohtani | Dodgers | 99 |
| 2 | Yordan Alvarez | Astros | 90 |
| 3 | Ben Rice | Yankees | 86 |
| 4 | Kyle Schwarber | Phillies | 83 |
| 5 | Rafael Devers | Giants | 70 |
| 6 | Brent Rooker | Athletics | 69 |
| 7 | Marcell Ozuna | Pirates | 68 |
| 8 | Giancarlo Stanton | Yankees | 67 |
| 9 | Jorge Soler | Angels | 60 |
Ratings are percentile-scaled from 2026 Statcast data and refreshed nightly from Baseball Savant — see how card ratings work for the full methodology.
One honest note on this list: DH is a lineup role, not a fielding position, so this ranking covers the hitters who actually take their plate appearances at DH. The Legends Deck designated hitters leaderboard handles this the same way — it ranks every player MLB currently lists at DH (plus two-way players), alongside anyone rostered there, rather than relying on fielding-derived position codes that would file Ohtani under pitchers and Yordan Alvarez under left fielders. A player like Alvarez or Schwarber can legitimately appear on both an outfield depth chart and the DH rankings; that's the nature of the role.
How are designated hitters ranked on Legends Deck?
DH is the only lineup spot with no defensive inputs at all, so the ranking is pure offense:
- Exit velocity — average and 90th-percentile batted-ball speed (what is exit velocity?)
- Barrel rate — the share of batted balls with the ideal speed-angle combination (what is barrel rate?)
- xwOBA — expected offensive value based on contact quality, not batted-ball luck
- Contact and discipline — whiff rate, chase rate, and walk rate
At every fielding position, the overall rating blends offense with range, arm, or framing. A DH gets no such credit, which is why the offensive bar for an elite DH rating is the highest in the game: a 90-rated DH has to out-hit a 90-rated shortstop by a wide margin, because the shortstop's glove is doing part of the work.
Why is DH different from every other position?
The designated hitter has existed in the American League since 1973, but it only became universal in 2022, when the National League adopted it in the current collective bargaining agreement. Three things make it unlike any fielding position:
It's a role, not a position. Teams rotate hitters through the DH slot to manage workloads and keep bats in the lineup. A typical contender gives DH at-bats to three or four players over a season, while a true full-time DH — a Yordan Alvarez or Kyle Schwarber type — is one of the scarcer profiles in baseball.
The offensive bar is brutal. Because a DH contributes nothing defensively, league front offices only hand the role to hitters whose bats clear the highest offensive threshold in the sport. The flip side: aging sluggers who can no longer field a position can stay productive for years — Giancarlo Stanton has been a DH-only force long after his outfield days ended.
The Ohtani rule changed the math. Since 2022, a starting pitcher who is also his team's DH can stay in the game as the DH after leaving the mound. The rule was written for exactly one player, and it's why Shohei Ohtani can lead this list while also ranking among the best starting pitchers in MLB.
Who is the best power-hitting DH in MLB?
The top power tier among 2026 designated hitters is Kyle Schwarber, Yordan Alvarez, and Giancarlo Stanton. Stanton has produced some of the hardest-hit balls ever tracked by Statcast — his peak exit velocities sit at the extreme right edge of the league distribution. Schwarber is the model modern DH: huge raw power, high walk rates, and home-run totals that have led the National League, with strikeouts accepted as the cost of doing business. Yordan Alvarez pairs that same thump with far better contact rates, which is why his card rating leads all full-time DHs.
How does Shohei Ohtani's two-way role affect DH rankings?
Ohtani is rated as a two-way player on Legends Deck — his 99 overall reflects both elite pitching and elite hitting attributes. On his card, that means he ranks at the top of two different lists at once: the starting pitcher rankings and this one. In real lineups, the Dodgers use him exactly the way the Ohtani rule intends: he hits at DH every day, stays in the game as DH after his pitching starts end, and never plays the field. If you're ranking strictly by who delivers the most value from the DH lineup slot, Ohtani is the answer; if you want the best *full-time* DH who does nothing else, that's Yordan Alvarez.
How does DH rating translate to in-game value on Legends Deck?
A high-rated DH is the purest offensive upgrade in the game. In Franchise Mode and PvP matchups, a DH slot:
- Adds elite offense with zero defensive trade-off — there's no range or arm penalty to absorb
- Lets you stack a defense-first glove at a premium position (catcher, shortstop, center field) without losing lineup thump
- Pairs naturally with high-exit velocity and high-barrel rate profiles, since those attributes drive simulated extra-base damage
The strategic question is always opportunity cost: your DH slot is the one place any bat fits, so filling it with a positionless slugger frees every other roster spot for two-way value.
Where do designated hitters fit in Legends Deck card collections?
DH-type cards are the simplest cards in the set to evaluate — the hitting attributes are the whole story. That makes them reliable trade targets: there's no hidden defensive value to misprice. The elite tier (Ohtani, Alvarez, Schwarber) anchors any offense-first deck build, while mid-tier sluggers like Rooker, Ozuna, and Soler are efficient budget options when you've spent up elsewhere. Browse the full card directory for current 2026 attribute splits, or check the designated hitters leaderboard for every player rostered at DH.
Best Players at Every Position
Every position has a live ranked leaderboard on the MLB positions hub, refreshed nightly from Baseball Savant.
Infield
- Best Catchers in MLB 2026
- Best First Basemen in MLB 2026
- Best Second Basemen in MLB 2026
- Best Third Basemen in MLB 2026
- Best Shortstops in MLB 2026
Outfield
Pitching
Live Leaderboards
Every list below is ranked live from Baseball Savant and refreshed nightly: