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Two titans compete to be baseball’s best as player debates intensify.

ESPN's Latest MLB Rankings Snub Shohei Ohtani, Place Rival At No. 1 originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

ESPN’s midseason MLB player rankings dropped on Tuesday, and the results are stirring debate across the baseball world. The update, meant to spotlight the game’s best, has sparked immediate reactions with some surprising results at the top of the list.

At the center of the buzz are two of the sport’s biggest names. Both are producing seasons that will be remembered long after 2025 is over, and both have arguments for being the best player in baseball right now.

Yet only one player could land at the top of ESPN’s list constructed by several of their top MLB analysts, like Jorge Castillo, Alden Gonzalez and David Schoenfield, to name a few.

Still, the gap between first and second place in these rankings says as much about perception as it does about performance.

Aaron Judge’s Power Keeps Him Atop ESPN’s Rankings

Aaron Judge, the 33-year-old right fielder for the New York Yankees, stands atop ESPN’s midseason player rankings and the numbers explain why.

This season, he leads the majors with a .336 batting average and a 1.131 OPS while racking up 37 home runs and 87 RBIs, both of which rank in the top five. He at one point posted an extraordinary .467 batting average on balls in play (BABIP), the highest in modern MLB history. His BABIP currently stands at .403.

Earlier this year, Judge hit five homers and drove in 15 runs in the Yankees’ first six games, a feat no player had ever accomplished. In his 1,000th career game, he reached 321 career home runs, the most any player has hit in that span.

2. Shohei Ohtani
6. Paul Skenes
12. Juan Soto

ESPN MLB experts give their in-season update for baseball's top 50 players ⬇️ https://t.co/A4y9km2Kuj
— ESPN (@espn) August 12, 2025

On July 12, he launched his 350th career homer, becoming the fastest player in league history to reach that milestone in just 1,088 games.

Judge’s offensive dominance is also reflected in his wins above replacement, pacing toward a 7.0 WAR so far. Though he recently returned from the injured list and is currently limited to designated hitter duties due to a flexor strain, he remains one of the most dangerous bats in the game.

His production has kept him at the top of nearly every offensive leaderboard and firmly in the conversation for his third MVP award in four seasons.

Shohei Ohtani’s Two-Way Greatness Still Turns Heads

Shohei Ohtani, 31, continues to redefine what a baseball superstar can be. As a hitter, he is slashing .284/.389/.624 with 42 home runs, 78 RBIs, 17 steals and 112 runs scored. On the mound, he owns a 2.37 ERA with 25 strikeouts across 19 innings.

His rare blend of elite power at the plate and precision on the mound makes him one of the sport’s most valuable assets.

Ohtani’s 1,000th career MLB hit this season, a towering 440-foot homer, placed him alongside Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui in baseball history as the only Japanese-born players to reach that milestone.

Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani was ranked at No. 2 behind Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees in ESPN's midseason player rankings.Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

Every game with Ohtani offers a chance for something unprecedented, yet ESPN’s rankings suggest that even extraordinary talent can be edged out by a singular, overpowering season from a rival.

Both stars are hurtling toward the final stretch with MVP stakes high and the conversation around them growing louder with every game. The potential for a rematch to last year's World Series is still possible as New York is in a solid wild card position with 43 games left on the Yankees' schedule and the Dodgers hold a slim lead in the NL West.

The season’s final stretch will decide not only the race for awards but perhaps the debate over who truly owns the title of baseball’s best.