Spring training camps are underway, which means it is time to look at the state of baseball. As part of our 2025 MLB season preview, ESPN's Buster Olney is bringing back his positional ranking series, in which he surveyed those around the industry to help him rank the top 10 players at every position.
Today, we rank the best of the best at designated hitter.
The objective of this exercise is to identify the best players for the 2025 season, not who might be best in five years or over their career. We will roll out a position per installment. Here are the lists so far and the rest of the schedule: catchers, first basemen, second basemen, third basemen, shortstops, corner outfielders, center fielders, starting pitchers (Thursday) and relievers (Friday).
When the National League adopted the designated hitter position before the 2022 season, the presumption was that the change would enhance offense -- at least to some degree. Eliminating the mostly ugly at-bats by pitchers and replacing them with at-bats from offense-minded players would mean more hits, more scoring opportunities, more runs.
But that theoretical effect has seemingly been offset by the growing dominance and strength of pitching.
Here are the past three full seasons of NL offensive production before the designated hitter rule was adopted (2018-2019 and 2021), courtesy of ESPN researcher Paul Hembekides:
.247 batting average
.317 OBP
.406 SLG
4.51 runs per game
The first three seasons of NL production with the DH (2022-24):
.247 batting average
.320 OBP
.414 SLG
4.54 runs per game
The NL offense is virtually identical even after the advent of the DH, just as overall scoring hasn't increased much since the adoption of shift bans and the rules designed to enhance base stealing. What has happened, it seems, is that the improvement in pitching -- starters throwing fewer innings, the parade of overpowering relievers lengthening -- is swallowing up offenses even though conditions for hitters have been augmented.
All of this suggests that if MLB wants more offense and more action, it needs to reduce the conga lines of relief pitchers -- by limiting the number of arms available in each game -- and restore the preeminence of starting pitchers. The longer that managers are compelled to trust their pitchers, the more likely it is that runs will be scored.
The impact of great designated hitters will always be tangible. Here are the top 10 in the big leagues right now: