2026 MLB lineup rankings: Which teams have the best bats?

Bradford DoolittleFeb 25, 2026, 07:00 AM ET

CloseMLB writer and analyst for ESPN.com
Former NBA writer and analyst for ESPN.com
Been with ESPN since 2013

Multiple Authors

Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby, not remembered for his soft side, uttered one oft-repeated romantic quote that has stood the test of time:

“People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball,” Hornsby said. “I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”

I know the feeling, but rather than staring out my window, I do an adult version of something I loved to do when I was a kid. Back then, I’d take my baseball cards from the previous summer and sort them out into team defensive alignments or primary batting orders, depending on my mood.

Then, when I got my copy of “The Sporting News” that had all the moves from the previous week, I’d swap cards from team to team, envisioning what the next summer would look like. These days, I don’t do that with the cards, but I do love to sketch out projected lineups.

With spring training underway, those projections are starting to come into focus. While there will be further iterations between now and Opening Day, let’s take a snapshot of how each team’s lineup fares in the revised MLB landscape.

Base lineup:

1. Shohei Ohtani2. Kyle Tucker3. Mookie Betts4. Freddie Freeman5. Will Smith6. Max Muncy7. Teoscar Hernandez8. Tommy Edman9. Andy Pages

Powerful. Patient. Savvy on the bases. Deep, mostly durable. Best in the majors against lefties and righties. Virtually no holes.

It’s going to be another long season for Dodgers opponents.

How we ranked the lineups

Lineup Wins are the number of games each club would project to win if the only difference between teams was the quality of their base batting orders, including anticipated platoons. Base lineups displayed reflect each team’s anticipated most-used lineup over the course of the 2026 season, including players who might open the season on the injured list.

For an explanation of the grades, click here.

Base lineup:

1. Ronald Acuna Jr.2. Drake Baldwin3. Matt Olson4. Jurickson Profar5. Austin Riley6. Ozzie Albies7. Michael Harris II8. Mike Yastrzemski9. Ha-Seong Kim

The durability grades are based on playing time forecasts at FanGraphs, and if this one turns out to be accurate, we’ll learn why last year’s Braves fell so far short. But the middling depth grade underscores the need for that to happen.

If the Braves’ lineup can stay mostly healthy, it’s a stacked order with no real holes.

Base lineup:

1. Francisco Lindor2. Juan Soto3. Bo Bichette4. Jorge Polanco5. Marcus Semien6. Brett Baty7. Francisco Alvarez8. Luis Robert Jr.9. Carson Benge

The Mets finished fifth by team WRC+ last year, then went out and turned over more than half of the lineup. The bottom line is a slightly more prolific group with a little different profile: more aggression, more average, good balance across the board.

Whatever the middle of the lineup ends up looking like, you get the feeling that this crew carries with it the key to the Mets matching or beating last year’s attack.

Base lineup:

1. Brendan Donovan2. Julio Rodriguez3. Cal Raleigh4. Josh Naylor5. Randy Arozarena6. Dominic Canzone7. Luke Raley8. Cole Young9. J.P. Crawford

Last season, Seattle’s 113 wRC+ was tied with the Dodgers for second in the majors, trailing only the Yankees. While close observers pointed out the success of the Mariners’ revitalized offense in one of baseball’s roughest home environments, it still feels like the Seattle attack is slipping under the radar.

The key question revolved around who will be positioned to pick up the slack from a Raleigh drop-off, which seems all but certain. Raleigh should still be among the best, but repeating last year’s historic performances is just such a tall order.

Base lineup:

1. George Springer2. Addison Barger3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.4. Alejandro Kirk5. Daulton Varsho6. Jesus Sanchez7. Kazuma Okamoto8. Ernie Clement9. Andres Gimenez

There you see the Blue Jays’ offensive M.O. in grade form. Swing aggressively and do damage on contact. It worked really well last season.

Now, the Blue Jays are tasked with repeating the breakout with Okamoto filling the lineup shoes of departed Bo Bichette.

Base lineup:

1. Nick Kurtz2. Shea Langeliers3. Tyler Soderstrom4. Brent Rooker5. Jeff McNeil6. Jacob Wilson7. Lawrence Butler8. Max Muncy9. Denzel Clarke

Slow and strong. Isn’t this kind of what you think about when it comes to a contention-worthy Athletics lineup?

The patience part of the dossier is not really on brand for the A’s, however, and you do wonder if maybe there is some progress to be made in that department considering the youth up and down the batting order.

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2 Related

Base lineup:

1. Michael Busch2. Alex Bregman3. Ian Happ4. Seiya Suzuki5. Pete Crow-Armstrong6. Nico Hoerner7. Moises Ballesteros8. Dansby Swanson9. Carson Kelly

The durability and depth grades are presented together for a reason: Scoring low on the first but high on the latter shows a team is built to withstand some injuries.

The Cubs, it seems, are built to deploy a stable lineup but have plenty of options if the injury bug bites.

Base lineup:

1. Trent Grisham2. Aaron Judge3. Cody Bellinger4. Ben Rice5. Giancarlo Stanton6. Jazz Chisholm Jr.7. Ryan McMahon8. Anthony Volpe9. Austin Wells

The grading curve hands out three F’s in every category, and the Yankees’ projected No. 28 ranking in park-adjusted batting average lands them a failing grade in that department.

This is exciting news for Yankees fans. No, really. Because with No. 1 rankings in power and patience, a bit of good balls-in-play luck in the average column could mean an especially monster-ish Yankees offense. If healthy, that is, and of course the durability grade suggests that should not be taken for granted.

Base lineup:

1. Trea Turner2. Kyle Schwarber3. Bryce Harper4. Alec Bohm5. Brandon Marsh6. Adolis Garcia7. Bryson Stott8. J.T. Realmuto9. Justin Crawford

Most of this is pretty self-evident if you watch the Phillies a lot except, perhaps, the No. 1 ranking in the baserunning category. That one at least caught me off guard despite the presence of Turner.

The Phillies ranked sixth in team BsR in 2025 and led the majors in Statcast’s team-level sprint speed score. Now they are trying to work in the fleet Crawford as a regular.

The Phils are phast?

Base lineup:

1. Xander Bogaerts2. Jackson Merrill3. Manny Machado4. Fernando Tatis Jr.5. Jake Cronenworth6. Ramon Laureano7. Gavin Sheets8. Miguel Andujar9. Freddy Fermin

If the Padres could pair their hyper-aggressive, high-contact approach with a Blue Jays-like leap in power on contract, this could be an exciting group.

Tatis and Machado are the standouts. Now the Padres need a bounce-back season from Merrill and a throwback season from Bogaerts to double that star count.

Base lineup:

1. Geraldo Perdomo2. Ketel Marte3. Corbin Carroll4. Gabriel Moreno5. Nolan Arenado6. Carlos Santana7. Lourdes Gurriel Jr.8. Jordan Lawlar9. Pavin Smith

The Diamondbacks had a dangerous offense last season and remained solid even after trading away Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor.

There’s a lot of question marks now, especially with health. Having Arenado and Santana in the order would have been really exciting a few years ago.

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Base lineup:

1. Gunnar Henderson2. Taylor Ward3. Adley Rutschman4. Pete Alonso5. Jordan Westburg6. Jackson Holliday7. Dylan Beavers8. Samuel Basallo9. Colton Cowser

With the acquisitions of Ward and Alonso, the Orioles have fashioned a take-and-rake profile that Earl Weaver would find most agreeable.

Health is already an issue with Holliday and Westburg dealing with maladies, but in addition to staying on the field, Baltimore badly needs Rutschman to rediscover the superstar track he once seemed destined to follow.

Base lineup:

1. Jeremy Pena2. Jose Altuve3. Yordan Alvarez4. Carlos Correa5. Yainer Diaz6. Christian Walker7. Joey Loperfido8. Zach Cole9. Jake Meyers

Healthy versions of Pena and Alvarez would paper over a lot of dings, but this is a shaky profile for Houston’s attack. Paper-thin, slow, overly aggressive and dependent on batting average.

These are not the industry-defining Astros we once knew.

Base lineup:

1. Maikel Garcia2. Bobby Witt Jr.3. Vinnie Pasquantino4. Salvador Perez5. Jac Caglianone6. Jonathan India7. Carter Jensen8. Isaac Collins9. Kyle Isbel

This Royals’ season will be a feast for the senses for data nerds.

The Royals have attacked their poor track record for plate discipline by bringing fresh voices to the hitting program. They’ve tried to address the franchise’s long-standing power deficiency by messing with the fences in their home park, which could make Kauffman Stadium a lower-altitude version of Coors Field.

We will see how it works out in the cold, indifferent world of baseball analytics. Either way, at least the Royals are trying.

Base lineup:

1. Jackson Chourio2. Brice Turang3. William Contreras4. Christian Yelich5. Andrew Vaughn6. Sal Frelick7. Luis Rengifo8. Garrett Mitchell9. Joey Ortiz

It’s strange-looking profile for the Brewers’ offense.

The power grade might surprise you, but it shouldn’t. Despite the Brewers’ homer-happy home venue, Milwaukee ranked just 22nd in long balls. The offense was really good anyway. The patience grade is more surprising, as the Brewers were an excellent on-base team in 2025, even beyond their elite average.

The Brewers lost some of their top walk guys from last season (Isaac Collins, Rhys Hoskins among them) so a dip on offense might be in the offing.

Base lineup:

1. Brandon Nimmo2. Wyatt Langford3. Corey Seager4. Joc Pederson5. Jake Burger6. Josh Jung7. Josh Smith8. Danny Jansen9. Evan Carter

It’s a new-look offense for the Rangers, who are banking on better plate discipline and better health from a group that has struggled to stay on the field.

Can Langford make the leap from good to elite? If so, that would make this portrait a lot more promising.

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Base lineup:

1. Luis Arraez2. Rafael Devers3. Willy Adames4. Matt Chapman5. Jung Hoo Lee6. Heliot Ramos7. Harrison Bader8. Bryce Eldridge9. Patrick Bailey

Apparently, the Giants are too slow to get injured, so expect to see a lot of the same players standing around day after day playing station-to-station offense for a team with middling power.

The depth of the lineup, illustrated here by the star count, looks like a plus.

Base lineup:

1. Byron Buxton2. Luke Keaschall3. Josh Bell4. Royce Lewis5. Ryan Jeffers6. Matt Wallner7. Victor Caratini8. Trevor Larnach9. Brooks Lee

An atypical season of health might not lift the Twins’ offense into the elite, but it would at least give us a better sense of who they are.

Alas, with the bad early pitching news (Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan), Minnesota’s hopes for contention might hinge on these hitters staying on the field and building on that foundation of above-average power.

Base lineup:

1. Roman Anthony2. Trevor Story3. Jarren Duran4. Willson Contreras5. Wilyer Abreu6. Caleb Durbin7. Marcelo Mayer8. Ceddanne Rafaela9. Carlos Narvaez

This is the second-most surprising ranking for me, after Detroit a couple of spots down, but after digging into it to make sure it wasn’t a product of baseball analyst error, it is what it is.

There is a lot of upside with this group, from those displayed and others — such as Kristian Campbell, Triston Casas and Masataka Yoshida — who are not. But it is a group that a year ago opened with Alex Bregman and Rafael Devers as fixtures in the lineup. Now, they’re not here.

The kids will have to step up.

Base lineup:

1. Zach Neto2. Nolan Schanuel3. Mike Trout4. Yoan Moncada5. Jo Adell6. Josh Lowe7. Jorge Soler8. Logan O’Hoppe9. Christian Moore

If you squint, you can see some upside from this group of nine hitting the high side of their probability range in the power and patience departments.

But with every injury, the Halos have to dig deeper into a razor-thin depth chart. It’s not the kind of thing that has worked out for them very often.

Base lineup:

1. Gavin Lux2. Yandy Diaz3. Jonathan Aranda4. Junior Caminero5. Cedric Mullins6. Jake Fraley7. Taylor Walls8. Chandler Simpson9. Nick Fortes

The Rays are the main example of why you might want to think of the durability category as a measure of stability rather than health. It’s both, really.

The Rays spread their playing time around to so many contributors that it makes them look fragile in an exercise like this. But the quality of the depth isn’t great on paper, either, so maybe that doesn’t matter.

As I’ve written before, we’re at the point where the Rays need to prove they are still ahead of the analytical curve.

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Base lineup:

1. Parker Meadows2. Gleyber Torres3. Riley Greene4. Spencer Torkelson5. Kerry Carpenter6. Wenceel Perez7. Zach McKinstry8. Dillon Dingler9. Colt Keith

I love this profile because I’m certain it’s going to be wildly off — and I think it’ll be off because the Tigers keep iterating their lineup as the season goes along.

It’s a hard thing to predict. For example, in two weeks it might make sense to plug Kevin McGonigle in as an every-day player. Right now, it’s probably jumping the gun. Yet McGonigle’s forecast is one of the reasons why Detroit’s depth rating is MLB’s best.

So if the injuries come, the Tigers might actually get better as they unfurl their fill-ins. It’s a team that is a lot of fun even beyond its standout rotation.

Base lineup:

1. Oneil Cruz2. Brandon Lowe3. Bryan Reynolds4. Ryan O’Hearn5. Marcell Ozuna6. Spencer Horwitz7. Joey Bart8. Jared Triolo9. Nick Gonzales

The Pirates finished 29th in wRC+ last season. Despite a busy offseason, there was just no way to lift Pittsburgh into an elite offensive projection.

The baseline is a lot better, though, and this version does not pencil Konnor Griffin into the base lineup projection. Obviously if he works his way into that, the upside of this improved baseline increases considerably.

Base lineup:

1. TJ Friedl2. Noelvi Marte3. Elly De La Cruz4. Eugenio Suarez5. Sal Stewart6. Tyler Stephenson7. JJ Bleday8. Matt McLain9. Ke’Bryan Hayes

Suarez hit 49 homers last season and now returns to Great American Ball Park, one of baseball’s launching pads, where he has hit more than twice as many homers as any other venue. So think of what Cincinnati’s power grade looked like before.

The grade against righties is rough, however, and it’s a reflection of Cincinnati’s lack of lefty swingers, both in quantity and quality.

Base lineup:

1. Lars Nootbaar2. Ivan Herrera3. Alec Burleson4. Nolan Gorman5. Masyn Winn6. JJ Wetherholt7. Jordan Walker8. Pedro Pages9. Victor Scott II

It’s a very young and unproven lineup. You might have to go back decades to find a St. Louis lineup with such a short collective track record.

But if Wetherholt becomes what the Cardinals hope he can become, we might look at this transitional lineup as the beginning of something truly interesting.

Base lineup:

1. Steven Kwan2. Gabriel Arias3. Jose Ramirez4. Kyle Manzardo5. Rhys Hoskins6. George Valera7. Chase DeLauter8. Bo Naylor9. Brayan Rocchio

It’s such a weird group. Roster Resource has the Guardians platooning at four positions. So despite the collective talent of lefty swingers Manzardo, Valera, DeLauter and Naylor, they all have righty partners to face southpaws in this configuration. Yet the Guardians don’t profile to hit lefties at all.

The takeaway: Cleveland needs that quartet of young hitters to step up so that the platooning isn’t necessary. Or it needs better righty hitters on the bench. The first option would bode better for the long term.

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Base lineup:

1. Chase Meidroth2. Kyle Teel3. Colson Montgomery4. Munetaka Murakami5. Miguel Vargas6. Austin Hays7. Andrew Benintendi8. Edgar Quero9. Brooks Baldwin

Despite the grades here, there is a lot of power potential in this overhauled group of ChiSox, beginning with the dangerous Murakami.

Next year, maybe we’ll be introducing Braden Montgomery and Roch Cholowsky into the mix. The trend arrow is pointing up.

Base lineup:

1. CJ Abrams2. Dylan Crews3. James Wood4. Daylen Lile5. Luis Garcia Jr.6. Keibert Ruiz7. Brady House8. Nasim Nunez9. Jacob Young

The Nationals have James Wood and some collective speed. The cupboard isn’t completely bare.

Base lineup:

1. Jakob Marsee2. Xavier Edwards3. Kyle Stowers4. Agustin Ramirez5. Griffin Conine6. Otto Lopez7. Liam Hicks8. Connor Norby9. Owen Caissie

The Marlins can be better than this, but obviously this is a low baseline.

The foundation for a breakout would be laid in the middle of the order, with full seasons from Stowers and Ramirez, and Caissie acclimating to the majors quickly and moving up from this bottom-of-the-order projection.

Base lineup:

1. Ezequiel Tovar2. Willi Castro3. Hunter Goodman4. Jordan Beck5. Troy Johnston6. Brenton Doyle7. Mickey Moniak8. Jake McCarthy9. Edouard Julien

It’s a brand new operation and, goodness knows, there is plenty of space for innovation.

Grades glossary

Note: All grades are based on park-neutral projections. Grades are assigned according to a version of a bell curve using their ranking in each category.

Hit: Team batting average

Patience: Portion of OBP based on walks and HBPs

Power: Slugging percentage minus batting average (isolated power)

Baserunning: Based on Fangraphs’ BsR metric

Durability: Percentage of plate appearances projected to go to the base lineup. This category could also be called “Stability”

Depth: Aggregate wRC+ for all players projected by Fangraphs to receive plate appearances who are not part of a base lineup, either as an every-day regular or as part of a platoon

vsR: Lineup wRC+ against right-handed pitchers

vsL: Lineup wRC+ against left-handed pitchers

Stars: Batting order slots projected to land in the top 10, based on weighted runs created

Holes: Batting order slots projected to land in the bottom 10, based on weighted runs created

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