Either those in their prime, whose other position is pitcher, so they can’t play the field (Shohei Ohtani). Or those who may be a bit past their prime as far as playing a position, but can find new life as a DH. We saw it with George Springer last year, who came out of nowhere to become one of the very best hitters in the game once again, leading the Blue Jays throughout that World Series run.
Some teams prefer to cycle multiple hitters through the DH position, rather than have it held down by one guy. But those are also typically the teams that don’t get the most out of their DH spot. If you have one devoted slugger to hold down the DH, it likely is a pretty special hitter.
So without further ado, let’s dive into our first set of rankings, breaking down the best the DH position has to offer for the 2026 MLB season.
The voting group for Just Baseball’s 2026 position lists is comprised of editors Ryan Finkelstein, Leo Morgenstern, Eric Treuden, and Joey Peterson, as well as Just Baseball’s Aram Leighton, Peter Appel, Peyton Ginas and Jack McMullen.
Each individual ranked players 1-15, and those outside of their top 15 received a numerical value of 20. The rankings were then averaged out, with the lowest mean score being best.
Honorable Mentions:
Giancarlo Stanton (New York Yankees)