Some have been waiting since the regular season ended last Sunday, working during their teams’ first-round byes to stay sharp for Saturday’s Game 1 action. Others helped mash their teams through the best-of-three Wild Card Series just to get to this point. Either way, any of these sluggers could make a serious mark on October — and that’s why they appear here, in a postseason edition of the Hitter Power Rankings.
Only players on one of these final eight teams were eligible, with career track record (regular season and postseason), 2025 results and recent performance all taken into account. Only 10 slots were available, which inevitably created some tough choices and left some deserving names on the outside looking in. Without further adieu, here are the Division Series Hitter Power Rankings.
1. Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers
The top hitter on our list also happens to be starting NLDS Game 1 on the mound. Even though we’ve grown accustomed to Ohtani’s two-way exploits, we really should not take such an event for granted. Ohtani is coming off a season in which he led the Majors in both total bases (380) and runs scored (146) for the second year in a row. He also led his league (in this case the NL) in SLG (.622), OPS (1.014) and OPS+ (179), each for the third consecutive season. Ohtani, likely on his way to his fourth MVP Award in five years, also began his second trip to October by launching two impressive home runs in the Dodgers’ Wild Card Series Game 1 victory over the Reds.
2. Aaron Judge, Yankees
Well, here we are again. Judge just put together another historic regular season, filled with preposterous numbers that barely feel real. He joined Barry Bonds as the only hitters in the Expansion Era (since 1961) to post at least a 200 OPS+ in three different years. And yet, questions remain about when, if ever, Judge is going to have the sort of monster playoff run that establishes him as an October legend. While he went 4-for-11 in the Wild Card Series against Boston, all four hits were singles, and Judge’s career postseason line (.212/.322/.446) is a far cry from what he’s done from April through September. Bonds was 38 by the time he put together a massive October — the Yankees are hoping Judge does it sooner.
3. Kyle Schwarber, Phillies
In his age-32 season, at a time when many hitters are already in decline, Schwarber set career highs in slugging (.563), OPS+ (150), homers (56 — the second-highest total in Phillies history) and RBIs (132). A notoriously hard worker in the batting cage, Schwarber led the NL in both of the latter two categories, while playing in all 162 games and serving as an emotional leader for the NL East champions. Now he has a chance to capture his second championship ring and polish a postseason resume that includes a .539 SLG and 21 homers (fourth all-time).
4. Cal Raleigh, Mariners
It’s already been a legendary season for Seattle’s beloved catcher, heading into his second trip to the playoffs. Now imagine if he caps it by leading the Mariners to their first World Series appearance. The club could just go ahead and commission the statue outside T-Mobile Park right then and there. Of course, there is still a ton of work to be done before that happens, and Raleigh will try to add some postseason heroics to what could be an AL MVP Award-winning campaign. After cooling off in July and August, the Big Dumper finished the regular season with a bang (1.030 OPS, 10 homers in September) to reach 60 homers and rewrite the record books for both catchers and switch-hitters.
5. George Springer, Blue Jays
There are 140 batters who got at least 400 plate appearances in both 2024 and ‘25. None improved his wRC+ by more than Springer: 72 points, from a below-average 94 to a third-among-all-qualifiers 166. It wasn’t close either. (The Royals’ Maikel Garcia was next, at plus-50 points.) Springer also finished on a three-month heater, slugging .640 in July, .714 in August and .663 in September. Can the 2017 World Series MVP finally carry over his extensive history of October success from Houston to Toronto? He didn’t have an extra-base hit when the Jays were swept out of the AL Wild Card Series in both 2022 and ‘23.
6. Mookie Betts, Dodgers
Betts didn’t look like himself for most of the season, struggling to make an impact with the bat. But he seems to have recovered just in time to help L.A. defend its title. He hit .299/.343/.557 with six homers and 23 RBIs in September, then went off in the NL Wild Card Series against Cincinnati, going 6-for-9, including a four-hit, three-double, three-RBI performance in the clincher. Betts’ postseason performance has been up and down over the years, but he came up big during the 2024 championship run, especially in the NLCS against the Mets (1.182 OPS, two homers, nine RBIs).
7. Giancarlo Stanton, Yankees
Of the 201 players to get at least 150 plate appearances in postseason history, only three (Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Nelson Cruz) can top Stanton’s .630 SLG, which comes with 18 home runs in just 44 games. He seems to live for these moments. While Big G had a rare subpar series in the Wild Card round, he is coming off a second half in which he slashed .283/.356/.650 with 20 big flies and 52 RBIs in just 56 games. There are few things scarier in this game than Stanton when he is comfortable at the plate, and that is something the Blue Jays will have to contend with in the ALDS.
8. Bryce Harper, Phillies
Harper (.622 career SLG in the postseason) is only two spots behind Stanton on that aforementioned list, and he’s been even better in October since coming to Philly. In 34 playoff games with the franchise, he’s hit .325/.444/.709 with 12 home runs, including some absolutely huge ones. Harper’s regular season was more solid than spectacular, but there are still few hitters in the Majors you would rather have the plate with your season on the line. Chasing his long-awaited first championship ring after 14 MLB seasons, Harper will be as motivated as ever to keep that trend going.
9. Julio Rodríguez, Mariners
Beware of second-half Julio. Once again in 2025, Rodríguez heated up as the season went along, with a .900 OPS and 18 of his 32 homers coming after the All-Star break. (In his career, he has a .737 OPS in the first half and .902 in the second.) So far, there haven’t been many opportunities to see whether Rodríguez, who just completed his second 30-30 campaign, can extend his second-half success into the postseason. ALDS Game 1 will be just his sixth career playoff game, with the first five coming as a 21-year-old rookie in 2022.
10. Freddie Freeman, Dodgers
It would be malpractice to complete this list without the reigning World Series MVP, a year after he slugged 1.000 with four homers and 12 RBIs in the Fall Classic, including one of the most memorable big flies in October history. While that’s the Freeman moment that will live on forever, his career has mostly been about ultra-consistent greatness, year after year. One example: Freeman’s 141 OPS+ in 2025 was identical to his 141 OPS+ in 2024 and nearly identical to his 142 career mark.
Honorable mentions: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Blue Jays), Kyle Tucker (Cubs), Trea Turner (Phillies), Brice Turang (Brewers), Michael Busch (Cubs), Andrew Vaughn (Brewers), Jorge Polanco (Mariners), Kerry Carpenter (Tigers), Seiya Suzuki (Cubs), Riley Greene (Tigers)
