We’ve reached the end of the line, the final installment in my series of stories about the great hitters of baseball’s Modern Era.
I began on June 17 at a logical starting point, 1961-1965. I moved forward by half-decades on subsequent Fridays, culminating in today’s rankings for 2016-2020. (The 2021 and 2022 seasons belong to an incomplete five-year period, putting them outside the scope of these ratings.)
The champions for 2016-2020, based on my rankings, were Mike Trout in the American League and Nolan Arenado in the National League.
Trout, a center fielder for the Los Angeles Angels, was named the AL’s Most Valuable Player in 2016 and 2019, and he finished among the top five votegetters in the other three years of the half-decade. He was the league’s only player to post a batting average above .300 and a slugging average above .600 during the 2016-2020 period.
Arenado, a third baseman for the Colorado Rockies during the half-decade, never won an MVP trophy, though he finished among the NL’s top six candidates in four of the five seasons. His total of 165 home runs and his slugging average of .565 were the best for any of the league’s batters during the 2016-2020 span. (Arenado now plays for the St. Louis Cardinals.)
The rankings for both leagues were based on my Five-Year Test, which focuses on these six stats:
Batting average
Slugging average
Runs scored per 500 plate appearances
Runs batted in per 500 plate appearances
Wins above replacement (WAR) per 500 plate appearances
The rankings for 2016-2020 included every batter who crossed the minimum threshold of two plate appearances per game. The five-year bar was set at 1,146 appearances, encompassing four 162-game schedules and the Covid-truncated 60-game season in 2020.
Eighty-seven batters in the American League qualified for the Five-Year Test for 2016-2020, as did 95 hitters in the National League. The typical AL batter had a five-season batting average of .264 and a .763 ratio of bases per out. The corresponding figures in the NL were .266 and .771.
Mookie Betts and Aaron Judge finished second and third behind Trout in the AL’s 2016-2020 standings. The runners-up after Arenado in the National League were Freddie Freeman and Anthony Rendon.
Scroll below to see my lists of the top 20 batters in each league. Each hitter is followed by a breakdown of his 2016-2020 statistics: games, hits, home runs, batting average, and bases per out. The first three stats weren’t included in the Five-Year Test, yet they’re shown here to round out the picture.
If you’re interested in my previous rankings, you can follow these links:
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American League top batters (full series)
1961-1965: Mickey Mantle
1966-1970: Frank Robinson
1971-1975: Reggie Jackson
1976-1980: George Brett
1981-1985: Eddie Murray
1986-1990: Rickey Henderson
1991-1995: Frank Thomas
1996-2000: Ken Griffey Jr.
2001-2005: Alex Rodriguez
2006-2010: Alex Rodriguez
2011-2015: Miguel Cabrera
2016-2020: Mike Trout
National League top batters (full series)
1961-1965: Willie Mays
1966-1970: Willie McCovey
1971-1975: Willie Stargell
1976-1980: George Foster
1981-1985: Mike Schmidt
1986-1990: Eric Davis
1991-1995: Barry Bonds
1996-2000: Larry Walker
2001-2005: Barry Bonds
2006-2010: Albert Pujols
2011-2015: Troy Tulowitzki
2016-2020: Nolan Arenado
American League top 20 batters (2016-2020)
1. Mike Trout, G 600, H 636, HR 163, BA .304, BPO 1.258
2. Mookie Betts, G 597, H 736, HR 116, BA .305, BPO .986
3. Aaron Judge, G 424, H 413, HR 119, BA .272, BPO 1.006
4. J.D. Martinez, G 527, H 610, HR 124, BA .303, BPO .949
5. Nelson Cruz, G 627, H 659, HR 176, BA .286, BPO .943
6. Jose Ramirez, G 648, H 705, HR 119, BA .290, BPO .952
7. Alex Bregman, G 559, H 582, HR 105, BA .283, BPO .947
8. Jose Altuve, G 623, H 780, HR 97, BA .318, BPO .895
9. Josh Donaldson, G 348, H 340, HR 84, BA .270, BPO .978
10. George Springer, G 615, H 657, HR 138, BA .273, BPO .864
11. Xander Bogaerts, G 652, H 747, HR 98, BA .293, BPO .837
12. Adrian Beltre, G 366, H 399, HR 64, BA .294, BPO .826
13. Manny Machado, G 409, H 466, HR 94, BA .285, BPO .831
14. Carlos Correa, G 505, H 518, HR 85, BA .275, BPO .816
15. Robinson Cano, G 391, H 455, HR 72, BA .292, BPO .793
16. Matt Chapman, G 422, H 398, HR 84, BA .255, BPO .817
17. Jose Abreu, G 662, H 760, HR 132, BA .290, BPO .810
18. Rafael Devers, G 392, H 433, HR 74, BA .279, BPO .789
19. Francisco Lindor, G 678, H 774, HR 126, BA .281, BPO .835
20. Michael Brantley, G 438, H 516, HR 53, BA .305, BPO .808
National League top 20 batters (2016-2020)
1. Nolan Arenado, G 678, H 775, HR 165, BA .300, BPO .933
2. Freddie Freeman, G 655, H 753, HR 136, BA .306, BPO 1.014
3. Anthony Rendon, G 585, H 643, HR 103, BA .299, BPO .956
4. Christian Yelich, G 646, H 731, HR 131, BA .299, BPO .982
5. Charlie Blackmon, G 657, H 831, HR 133, BA .314, BPO .942
6. Cody Bellinger, G 506, H 494, HR 123, BA .273, BPO .963
7. Trevor Story, G 603, H 636, HR 134, BA .277, BPO .897
8. Paul Goldschmidt, G 690, H 723, HR 133, BA .287, BPO .957
9. Kris Bryant, G 589, H 624, HR 116, BA .282, BPO .939
10. Justin Turner, G 561, H 599, HR 93, BA .298, BPO .903
11. Bryce Harper, G 632, H 594, HR 135, BA .265, BPO .978
12. Trea Turner, G 514, H 635, HR 74, BA .297, BPO .894
13. Corey Seager, G 514, H 577, HR 84, BA .293, BPO .832
14. Anthony Rizzo, G 669, H 681, HR 127, BA .280, BPO .916
15. Daniel Murphy, G 549, H 605, HR 76, BA .310, BPO .840
16. Joey Votto, G 661, H 682, HR 103, BA .293, BPO .961
17. Javier Baez, G 644, H 613, HR 108, BA .273, BPO .756
18. Marcell Ozuna, G 645, H 696, HR 130, BA .282, BPO .807
19. Ketel Marte, G 415, H 432, HR 53, BA .289, BPO .829
20. Ryan Braun, G 547, H 522, HR 97, BA .277, BPO .816