20 Greatest MLB Players of 2023 – The Baseball Scholar

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. 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.