Junior Caminero spent the first half of the season knocking on the door of the Hitter Power Rankings. Then he kicked it in.
A scorching stretch over the last two weeks has vaulted the Rays’ 23-year-old slugger from outside the top 10 all the way to No. 2, and he nearly made the jump to the very top. Caminero hit 11 home runs in 11 games from June 23-July 4, slugging 1.136 during that run. Since the start of last season, his 71 homers rank third in MLB, behind only Kyle Schwarber and Shohei Ohtani.
At the top, it’s the same familiar face. Yordan Alvarez is No. 1 for the third straight time, and the AL All-Star starter at DH keeps stuffing the stat sheet.
He leads the Majors in OBP (.420), SLG (.621), OPS+ (188) and total bases (208), and he’s closing in on 30 homers for the fifth time in six seasons. Over a four-game stretch from June 30-July 4, Alvarez had three three-hit games, and each one included at least one homer.
Ohtani’s latest milestone also came with the long ball. He reached 300 career home runs on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, going deep for the second straight game and the 20th time this season. The blast came in his 1,101st career game with at least one plate appearance, making him the fifth fastest to that mark in MLB history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Juan Soto is keeping the Mets afloat with his usual elite production. Even with New York enduring a rough season, Soto leads the NL in OBP (.410), SLG (.575) and OPS+ (173). Since his OPS dipped below .900 about a month ago, he has ripped off a .364/.505/.714 line with seven homers, 19 RBIs and 22 walks over 23 games.
- Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs (6)
Crow-Armstrong’s early-season numbers looked shaky, with an OPS barely above .500 a couple of weeks into the year. But if you strip out his first 16 games, the Cubs outfielder has been a force: .314/.413/.585 with 18 home runs and 19 stolen bases.
That pace works out to something close to 40-40 with a 1.000 OPS. By FanGraphs’ measure, he has produced the most offensive value in the Majors since that point and trails only Alvarez and James Wood on the season.
James Wood is right there too, and the Nationals’ young left-handed bat keeps building a monster season. The 6-foot-6 slugger won’t turn 24 until September, but he already leads the NL in walks (74) and total bases (195) while adding 25 homers. Washington’s offense has been one of baseball’s best surprises, and Wood’s 83 runs scored are 19 more than anyone else in the Majors.
- Nick Kurtz, Athletics (3)
Kurtz has hit a rough patch lately, carrying a .582 OPS since June 16. Even so, his overall season remains strong enough that his OBP is still above .400 and his SLG is still above .500. The 2026 Draft begins Saturday, and it’s only been two years since the A’s took Kurtz fourth overall out of Wake Forest.
- Kyle Schwarber, Phillies (4)
With the 2026 Home Run Derby field still coming together, Schwarber is an obvious name to watch for a shot at the Citizens Bank Park crowd. He could enter the Derby for the third time overall and the second time as a Phillie, after being knocked out in the first round in 2022. This is only his fifth season in Philadelphia, but by the end of it he could rank as high as fifth on the franchise’s all-time home run list.
- Otto Lopez, Marlins (not ranked)
Lopez came into the season nowhere near the Hitter Power Rankings conversation, but he has forced his way in by leading the Majors in hits (124), doubles (25) and batting average (.343). The 27-year-old from the Dominican Republic signed with the Blue Jays in 2016, and after being claimed off waivers from San Francisco in April 2024, he has found a home in Miami. His .322 mark in March/April is actually his lowest monthly batting average of the year so far.
10-T. Willson Contreras, Red Sox (not ranked)
Contreras is the newest addition to the Derby field and recently made his fourth All-Star team after replacing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the AL roster. The Red Sox’s offseason trade for him from the Cardinals has paid off, with the 34-year-old hitting .287/.381/.545 with 20 homers.
That matches his 2025 home run total and leaves him within four of the career high he set with the 2019 Cubs. Over his last 23 games since June 12, he’s slugging .624.
García is another late bloomer making a major leap. Ten years after signing as an international amateur, he’s finally putting it all together.
He stayed with his original organization, was once a Top 100 prospect and had shown flashes before, but 2026 has taken him to another level. The 26-year-old already has a career-best 19 homers, and over the last two months he leads all MLB qualifiers with a .694 SLG.
In Other News...
Nationals Prospect Is Making This Decision Impossible To Ignore
Yohandy Morales has done enough at Triple-A to keep forcing the issue, and the numbers are starting to look like those of a hitter who is no longer just knocking on the door. The Nationals prospect is batting .303 with 21 home runs and a .930 OPS, production that stands out even with the usual caveats about contact rate and a ground-ball profile that still need watching.
What has made the conversation harder to ignore is that Morales has also shown signs of tightening up the parts of his game that had been holding him back. His recent strikeout rate has improved, his ball flight has trended in a better direction, and with his Rule 5 eligibility coming this offseason, Washington may soon have to decide how much longer it can keep waiting before making room for him. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Make Another Bullpen Move Fans Saw Coming
The Nationals are turning to another left-handed arm for the bullpen, selecting Tom Cosgroves contract and giving him a chance to join the active roster. The move comes after Brad Lord landed on the 15-day injured list, a shuffle that had been easy to anticipate once Washington needed another healthy option in the relief mix.
Cosgrove is a recent pickup from the Astros and has barely had time to settle in with the organization, making just one appearance for Triple-A Rochester since arriving. With the roster picture changing quickly, Washington is giving itself another look at a pitcher it brought in to provide depth and flexibility as the bullpen keeps evolving. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Made A Pitching Move That Could Reshape Their Depth Chart
The Nationals pitching pipeline took another turn this week, with the organization making a move that could ripple through the depth chart as the big league club keeps sorting out its relief picture. It comes against the backdrop of a busy minor league slate, where Rochester dropped a tight 8-7 game at Worcester, Harrisburg kept rolling with an 8-3 win over Erie, and Fredericksburg and the FCL Nationals also turned in wins that offered a snapshot of how much arms and bats are being tested across the system.
For Washington, the larger question is less about one box score than about how the club balances immediate needs with long-term depth. The minor league results show a system with some momentum in spots and some frustration in others, but the pitching shuffle is the part that matters most at the top level. However the next round of decisions plays out, it figures to say plenty about which arms the Nationals trust to help now and which ones they want to keep close for later. [Read more 🡒]