Best at the plate

Members of the Atlanta Braves dotted the list of baseball’s top 100 players in 2023.

Ronald Acuna Jr., the unanimous winner of the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award, was No. 2 in the overall rankings, trailing only Shohei Ohtani, the two-way star for the American League’s Los Angeles Angels. (Ohtani, of course, will be crossing over to the NL next season to play for Los Angeles’s other club, but that’s a matter for another time.)

Other Atlanta batters who qualified for the upper half of the top 100 were Matt Olson (No. 5), Marcell Ozuna (No. 23), Austin Riley (No. 31), and Ozzie Albies (No. 34). No other club had so many players who hit so well in 2023.

That’s why the Braves sit at the top of my team standings for batters in the top 100. My scoring system was simple. The 100th player received a single point, and the number grew by one for each step up the ladder. First place was worth 100 points.

I then totaled the points for each club. Atlanta’s five batting stars, for example, totaled 410 points. The distant runners-up were the Houston Astros at 296 points and the Los Angeles Dodgers at 295.

Four players in the top 100 split their seasons between two clubs, so their points were divided accordingly. And Ohtani’s points were split according to his record at the plate and on the mound. Seventy-eight percent of his overall base value (OBV) was recorded as a batter, so the Angels received 78 points for his hitting and 22 for his pitching.

If you would like to revisit my rankings of 2023’s 100 best players, follow these links to the 10 installments: 91-100, 81-90, 71-80, 61-70, 51-60, 41-50, 31-40, 21-30, 11-20, and 1-10.

Complete team standings for batters in the top 100 can be found below, with points (not ranks) in parentheses. We’ll look at the pitching half of the standings on Friday.

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Team standings for batters in top 100

1. Braves (410) — Ronald Acuna Jr. (99), Matt Olson (96), Marcell Ozuna (78), Austin Riley (70), Ozzie Albies (67)

2. Astros (296) — Yordan Alvarez (90), Kyle Tucker (89), Jose Altuve (72), Chas McCormick (45)

3. Dodgers (295) — Mookie Betts (98), Freddie Freeman (97), J.D. Martinez (51), James Outman (25), Max Muncy (24)

4. Rays (231) — Yandy Diaz (82), Josh Lowe (56), Isaac Paredes (38), Randy Arozarena (36), Luke Raley (12), Wander Franco (7)

5. Rangers (217) — Corey Seager (92), Marcus Semien (66), Adolis Garcia (59)

6. Diamondbacks (200) — Corbin Carroll (91), Ketel Marte (55), Christian Walker (54)

7. Phillies (188) — Bryce Harper (83), Kyle Schwarber (75), Brandon Marsh (30)

8. Reds (183) — TJ Friedl (63), Spencer Steer (52), Will Benson (42), Matt McLain (26)

9. Mets (155) — Francisco Lindor (73), Brandon Nimmo (50), Pete Alonso (32)

10. Cubs (147) — Cody Bellinger (77), Ian Happ (41), Seiya Suzuki (29)

11. Red Sox (110) — Rafael Devers (58), Triston Casas (44), Jarren Duran (8)

12. Mariners (107) — Julio Rodriguez (60), J.P. Crawford (47)

13. Padres (97) — Juan Soto (95), Ha-Seong Kim (2)

14. Yankees (93) — Aaron Judge (93)

15. Angels (87) — Shohei Ohtani (78), Mike Trout (9)

16. Rockies (85) — Nolan Jones (85)

17. Guardians (76) — Jose Ramirez (76)

18. Royals (71) — Bobby Witt (71)

19. White Sox (68) — Luis Robert Jr. (68)

20. Brewers (62) — Christian Yelich (62)

21. Pirates (39) — Jack Suwinski (39)

22. Marlins (37) — Jorge Soler (37)

23. Cardinals (35) — Paul Goldschmidt (35)

24. Blue Jays (27) — Brandon Belt (27)

25. Twins (13) — Edouard Julien (13)

26. Orioles (1) — Adley Rutschman (1)

27. Athletics (0)

27. Giants (0)

27. Nationals (0)

27. Tigers (0)