Junior Caminero has taken command of the American League home run race, and two walk-off swings in five days have pushed the Rays slugger into the thick of the season’s biggest individual conversations. His 41 homers lead the AL, while his latest dramatic finish helped Tampa Bay lock up a postseason berth.
Hitter Power Rankings: Caminero climbs as Crow-Armstrong stays on top
Pete Crow-Armstrong remains the game’s hottest position player with the regular season down to 11 games, holding the No. 1 spot for a second straight ranking. The Cubs center fielder is also leading the MVP discussion and has put real pressure on Shohei Ohtani’s bid for a third consecutive National League MVP Award.
Crow-Armstrong made more Cubs history Wednesday. His first homer of the night, No. 43 on the year, passed Billy Williams’ 1970 mark for the most by a left-handed hitter in franchise history. He later hit another to match Ernie Banks’ 1955 club record for most home runs in a season by a player age 24 or younger. He is also three stolen bases from becoming baseball’s seventh 40-homer, 40-steal player.
| Rank | Player | Club | Previous Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pete Crow-Armstrong | Cubs | 1 |
| 2 | Elly De La Cruz | Reds | Not ranked |
| 3 | Junior Caminero | Rays | — |
| 4 | Fernando Tatis Jr. | Padres | 6 |
| 5 | Yordan Alvarez | Astros | 2 |
| 6 | Pete Alonso | Orioles | — |
| 7 | Randy Arozarena | Mariners | Not ranked |
| 8 | Ben Rice | Yankees | — |
| 9 | Bryce Harper | Phillies | 5 |
| 10 | Jake Bauers | Brewers | Not ranked |
Caminero edges closer to Alvarez
Caminero has moved ahead of Yordan Alvarez among the league’s elite hitters after entering the late-August MVP conversation at No. 2. Before this latest shift, Aaron Judge had been the only American League hitter ranked above Alvarez since May 14.
The Rays third baseman had never delivered a walk-off hit before this recent stretch. Then he hit two game-ending homers within five days. The first clinched Tampa Bay’s playoff spot. The second came against a 100.4 mph fastball, one of only 14 pitches at 100 mph or harder turned into a homer in the Majors this season.
That blast also came with an unforgettable lap around the bases: 40.65 seconds, the slowest Statcast-recorded trip for an uncontested home run trot. Caminero now owns two seasons of at least 40 homers and is the second-youngest player ever to do that, trailing only Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews in 1953 and 1954.
De La Cruz brings power from both sides
Elly De La Cruz shot into the No. 2 position after a thunderous 457-foot homer Monday that reportedly bounced out of Great American Ball Park. The Reds shortstop has hit .303/.386/.550 since the All-Star break, good for a .936 OPS and a 154 wRC+, both among the top 10 qualified hitters.
The switch-hitter’s work against left-handed pitching has been especially important. His 1.051 OPS versus southpaws is second only to Baltimore’s Coby Mayo among hitters with at least 150 plate appearances against lefties. A year ago, De La Cruz carried a .618 OPS in those matchups.
Alvarez still has a Triple Crown path
Alvarez has cooled by his own standards since Aug. 1, though his .269/.404/.454 line and 131 wRC+ across 38 games still make him 31 percent better than a league-average hitter. The Astros star remains in position to chase the AL Triple Crown.
He leads the league with a .310 average, narrowly ahead of Tampa Bay’s Chandler Simpson at .308. Caminero’s 41 homers are two more than Alvarez’s 39, while Alonso leads the AL with 101 RBIs, three ahead of Alvarez. No player has captured a Triple Crown since Miguel Cabrera in 2012.
Alonso’s own week carried a homecoming feel. Back at Citi Field for the first time after signing a five-year Orioles contract last December, the Mets’ career home run leader received repeated ovations from his former home crowd. That included the response after his game-tying ninth-inning homer Tuesday, the 300th of his career. Baltimore went on to win in extra innings, and Alonso has helped keep the Orioles in the postseason chase.
He has appeared in all 152 games, with 36 homers and 101 RBIs. It is the fourth time in the past five seasons that Alonso has reached 100 RBIs.
Power returns for Tatis, Rice and Bauers
Fernando Tatis Jr. did not hit his first homer until May 30, but he has posted a .550 slugging percentage since then, seventh among qualified hitters. His return to a more open stance has helped him pull airborne contact more consistently, a useful match for his 97th-percentile hard-hit rate.
Tatis also has added more bat speed. His 76.4 mph average sits in the 96th percentile, and only two qualified hitters have made a bigger year-over-year gain from 2025 to 2026.
Ben Rice has recovered from a midsummer downturn by batting .342 with a .948 OPS over the past three and a half weeks. His season line has climbed to .262/.357/.525, with 38 home runs and 92 RBIs. He is trying to become the third Yankee over the last 14 years to hit at least 40 homers in a season, joining Judge, who has done it five times, and Juan Soto, who hit 41 in 2024.
Jake Bauers has become a major part of the Brewers’ lineup on baseball’s best team. The 30-year-old entered 2026 with an 84 OPS+ over parts of six big-league seasons, but his 144 OPS+ this year ranks eighth among qualified hitters. He has 26 homers, more than twice his prior career high of 12, achieved three times.
Bauers’ 76.5 mph average bat speed ranks in the 93rd percentile, and his sharper swing decisions have helped turn that speed into his most productive major league season.
Arozarena and Harper keep delivering
Randy Arozarena heads toward free agency this winter following a rebound year in Seattle. Through 144 games, he is hitting .277/.373/.477 with 25 homers and an .850 OPS, which would stand as his best qualified-season mark. His 147 wRC+ ranks fourth in the Majors behind Crow-Armstrong, Alvarez and Willson Contreras, and he also places among the top 10 in Statcast batting run value.
The last time Arozarena finished a qualified season above an .800 OPS was 2021, when he won the AL Rookie of the Year Award with the Rays.
Bryce Harper continues to see very little in the strike zone, with a 42.3 percent zone rate that is the second-lowest among 293 hitters who have seen at least 1,000 pitches. Still, he has punished the strikes he gets. Harper owns a .623 slugging percentage on pitches in the zone and has produced the Majors’ best run value against four-seam fastballs.
Also receiving consideration
- Alex Bregman, Cubs
- William Contreras, Brewers
- Travis Bazzana, Guardians
- Kazuma Okamoto, Blue Jays
- Ronald Acuña Jr., Braves
- Juan Soto, Mets
- Willson Contreras, Red Sox
- James Wood, Nationals
- Carter Jensen, Royals
- Riley Greene, Tigers
- Jackson Chourio, Brewers
- Jackson Merrill, Padres
SEO Title: Junior Caminero climbs as Pete Crow-Armstrong leads Hitter Power Rankings
SEO Description: Junior Caminero leads the AL with 41 home runs, while Pete Crow-Armstrong remains No. 1 in the latest hitter rankings ahead of Elly De La Cruz, Yordan Alvarez and more.
