Yankees' Aaron Judge takes top spot in midseason ranking ahead of Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani

Yankees' Aaron Judge takes top spot in midseason ranking ahead of Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani originally appeared on The Sporting News

ESPN releases its MLB rank list of the top 100 players in baseball annually once the season gets going, and 2025 is no different, but with four months of the season under our belt, one formidable power hitter sits atop the in-season update standings. 

New York Yankees juggernaut Aaron Judge sits at that top spot, most notably over Dodgers two-way unicorn, Shohei Ohtani.  

The Yankees' rightfielder, so far in 2025, has displayed his normal characteristics of mashing home runs and posting high batting averages year in and year out, but 2025 has had a bit of a different tone to it. In 109 games, Judge is posting a ridiculous slasline of .336/.444/.687, but that has not come without hitting a rough patch earlier in the season. 

Judge was experiencing an unusual slump during June, going 24-95 for the entire month and posting a slashline of .253/.388/.579 and an OPS of .967. When you compare these numbers to how he was torching the ball in the months of March to May, the decline in production is obvious.

Still, the two-time American League MVP is posting the video game numbers that we are all used to, despite succumbing to the injury bug back in late July after suffering a flexor strain in his right elbow. In that time, Judge has been the Yankees' designated hitter and ramping up to his return to the outfield. 

Concerning the National League, no one is doing what Shohei Ohtani is doing. 

Ohtani is posting a slashline of .284/.389/.624 with 42 home runs and an OPS of 1.103 in 117 games and has a 2.37 ERA in 19 innings pitched this year. In comparison to the rest of the Dodgers' pitching staff, Ohtani is displaying great numbers, even in a short sample size of eight games. 

Ohtani is picking up right where he left off last season, and when you include the potential production that Ohtani can provide on the mound, it feels even more special. 

Thus, when you look at the numbers between the two MVPs, Judge still leads in all major hitting categories, which include batting average, WAR, OBP, SLG, OPS, and OPS+. So, you can make a clear argument that Judge is having a better hitting season than Ohtani is in 2025, but with less than 50 games left to play in the season, it is anyone's ball game.