The Division Series opens Saturday with eight clubs still alive, and the middle of the order will have plenty to say about who keeps playing. Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero arrives as the American League’s top seed’s centerpiece, but the field is crowded with October-tested stars, breakout bats and a few hitters carrying the heat of the Wild Card round into the next series.
The bats at the front of the line
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Junior Caminero, Rays: Caminero followed his 45-homer, 110-RBI breakout in 2025 with another forceful season, batting .276/.360/.524 with 42 home runs, more than 100 RBIs and an .884 OPS. The 23-year-old has only two postseason appearances, both off the bench during Tampa Bay’s 2023 Wild Card loss to Texas, but he now leads an AL No. 1 seed into October.
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Ben Rice, Yankees: With Aaron Judge sidelined for an extended period by a right calf issue, Rice took over as New York’s leading offensive presence. He hit .264 with 41 homers, 97 RBIs and an .897 OPS, finishing two homers behind Pete Alonso for the AL lead. In the Wild Card opener against Boston, Rice went 4-for-5 with two home runs, a grand slam and six RBIs. His postseason OPS stands at 1.128 across 31 plate appearances. Judge’s Division Series availability and potential role remain uncertain, so he was not included in this field.
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Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres: Tatis set the tone for San Diego immediately, drilling the first pitch he saw for a leadoff homer in Game 1 against the Cubs. The Padres won that game 8-0 and completed a Wild Card sweep. After opening the year with a 55-game homer drought, Tatis batted .307 with 20 homers and a .995 OPS in the second half. He ended the regular season with 25 homers and 38 steals.
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Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers: Ohtani remains a dangerous October assignment even while managing left knee and biceps ailments. He returned from the injured list Sept. 23 and has not homered since Aug. 18. Over 47 games following the All-Star break, he posted a .245 average, eight homers and a .772 OPS. He will not pitch this postseason, but his career playoff OPS is .940, including a 1.096 mark during the Dodgers’ 2025 championship repeat.
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Jake Bauers, Brewers: Milwaukee’s 103-59 regular season was the best record in the majors, and Bauers supplied a powerful season with 26 homers, 86 RBIs and an .873 OPS, sixth best in the NL. Once a Top 100 prospect before both 2017 and 2018, he has found his footing at the right time. In 20 postseason plate appearances this year, Bauers is batting .316/.350/.684 with two home runs.
Fresh October pressure for emerging regulars
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Miguel Vargas, White Sox: Vargas turned his fifth major league season into a true offensive breakthrough. His .837 OPS beat his previous career high by more than 100 points, while he added 33 homers and stole 22 bases in 24 attempts. Along with first baseman Munetaka Murakami, Vargas drove a White Sox lineup that narrowly lost the AL Central to Cleveland by one game. He went 0-for-9 with three strikeouts in the Wild Card Series against Houston, though his regular-season body of work showed how quickly he can change a game.
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Matt Olson, Braves: Olson’s first homer of this postseason came in Game 3 against Philadelphia, adding to Atlanta’s lead in the Wild Card Series. The durable first baseman finished his fifth Braves season at .251 with an .823 OPS and 41 homers, tied for third in the NL. In 22 career playoff games, he has five home runs and 21 RBIs, with a .200/.330/.400 line. Ronald Acuña Jr. and Michael Harris II give him plenty of company in a dangerous Atlanta lineup.
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Ty France, Padres: France’s return to San Diego has restored his production. After compiling a .709 OPS from 2022 through 2025 while moving among Seattle, Cincinnati, Minnesota and Toronto, he hit .295 with 21 home runs and an .865 OPS for the Padres. That was his strongest OPS since he posted an .868 figure with San Diego in 2020. France opened this postseason 4-for-8 with a double, strengthening a Padres group that also features Tatis, Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill.
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Jackson Chourio, Brewers: At 22, Chourio has already built an impressive October résumé. He owns a .341/.362/.682 postseason line and hit two homers in his second career playoff game. In his third big league season, the left fielder batted .291/.351/.487 and reached both 20 homers and 20 steals for the third consecutive year.
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Steven Kwan, Guardians: Cleveland’s rise in the AL Central was helped by Kwan’s dramatic turnaround at the plate. His OPS was still below .600 on July 3, but he batted .353 with an .875 OPS after the All-Star break as the Guardians chased down and passed the White Sox. Kwan brings four Gold Gloves from his first four seasons, and his work atop the order gives Cleveland a different kind of October threat.
More lineup depth across the Division Series field
The clubs still standing are hardly limited to ten dangerous hitters. San Diego can turn to Merrill alongside Tatis, France and Machado. Milwaukee also has Brice Turang, while Tampa Bay’s supporting cast includes Yandy Díaz, Chandler Simpson and Jonathan Aranda.
New York has Luis García Jr. and Cody Bellinger behind Rice, while Los Angeles can deploy Max Muncy, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith around Ohtani. Atlanta’s additional options include Acuña, Harris and rookie Drake Baldwin.
Cleveland carries Chase DeLauter and Travis Bazzana into the next round, and Chicago’s lineup still leans on Murakami and Chase Meidroth in addition to Vargas. The Division Series starts Saturday, with no shortage of hitters capable of turning one inning into the game’s deciding frame.
