The Baseball Scholar

20 Greatest MLB Players of 2023

Dave Franks
3–5 minutes

The 2023 season in Major League Baseball was defined by star power at the very top of the game. Ronald Acuna Jr., Mookie Betts, and Shohei Ohtani delivered headline performances that shaped the MVP conversation all year, while Corey Seager, Freddie Freeman, Matt Olson, Marcus Semien, Yordan Alvarez, Juan Soto, and Yandy Diaz provided relentless offensive production across the league. Aaron Judge remained one of the sport’s most feared hitters when on the field, reinforcing just how deep the upper tier of talent had become. On the pitching side, Gerrit Cole and Blake Snell led the way with Cy Young–caliber dominance, supported by outstanding seasons from Sonny Gray, Logan Webb, Clayton Kershaw, Kyle Bradish, and Kodai Senga. Chris Martin anchored the late innings with elite efficiency, making 2023 memorable for the balance between explosive offense and high-level run prevention.

  • Ronald Acuna Jr.MVP

    Ronald Acuna Jr. Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    8.4 171 159 735 643 149 217 35 4 41 106 73 14 80 84 .337 .416 .596 1.012

  • Mookie Betts

    Mookie Betts Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    8.6 165 152 693 584 126 179 40 1 39 107 14 3 96 107 .307 .408 .579 .987

  • Gerrit ColeCy Young

    Gerrit Cole Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    7.4 63 33 33 15 4 2.63 209 2 2 0 64 61 48 222 27.0% 0.98

  • Corey Seager

    Corey Seager Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    7.2 173 119 536 477 88 156 42 0 33 96 2 1 49 88 .327 .390 .623 1.013

  • Blake SnellCy Young

    Blake Snell Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    6.0 54 32 32 14 9 2.25 180 0 0 0 47 45 99 234 31.5% 1.19

  • Shohei OhtaniMVP

    Shohei Ohtani Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    6.1 180 135 599 497 102 151 26 8 44 95 20 6 91 143 .304 .412 .654 1.066

  • Matt Olson

    Matt Olson Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    7.5 162 162 720 608 127 172 27 3 54 139 1 0 104 167 .283 .389 .604 .993

  • Freddie Freeman

    Freddie Freeman Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    6.8 161 161 730 637 131 211 59 2 29 102 23 1 72 121 .331 .410 .567 .976

  • Sonny Gray

    Sonny Gray Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    5.3 66 32 32 8 8 2.79 184 0 0 0 59 57 55 183 24.3% 1.15

  • Aaron Judge

    Aaron Judge Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    4.5 173 106 458 367 79 98 16 0 37 75 3 1 88 130 .267 .406 .613 1.019

  • Clayton Kershaw

    Clayton Kershaw Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    3.7 58 24 24 13 5 2.47 131.2 0 0 0 39 36 40 137 26.2% 1.07

  • Kyle Bradish

    Kyle Bradish Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    4.9 68 30 30 12 7 2.84 168.2 0 0 0 54 53 44 168 25.0% 1.05

  • Yordan Alvarez

    Yordan Alvarez Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    4.5 170 114 496 410 77 120 24 1 31 97 0 0 69 92 .293 .407 .583 .990

  • Yandy Diaz

    Yandy Diaz Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    5.1 163 137 600 525 95 173 35 0 22 78 0 1 65 94 .330 .410 .522 .932

  • Chris Martin

    Chris Martin Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    3.2 23 55 0 4 1 1.06 51.1 0 0 3 6 6 8 46 23.1% 1.04

  • Logan Webb

    Logan Webb Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    5.5 77 33 33 11 13 3.25 216 2 1 0 83 78 31 194 22.8% 1.07

  • Juan Soto

    Juan Soto Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    5.3 154 162 708 568 97 156 32 1 35 109 12 5 132 129 .275 .410 .519 .930

  • Kodai Senga

    Kodai Senga Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    4.5 71 29 29 12 7 2.98 166.1 0 0 0 60 55 77 202 29.1% 1.22

  • Marcus Semien

    Marcus Semien Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    7.7 128 162 753 670 122 185 40 4 29 100 14 3 72 110 .276 .348 .478 .826

  • Shohei Ohtani

    Shohei Ohtani Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    4.0 72 23 23 10 5 3.14 132 1 1 0 50 46 55 167 31.5% 1.06

    • All underlying data used in this analysis is available in The Baseball Scholar Data Library.

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