The 10 best MLB players to watch live in 2026: Ohtani, Judge and more

A big part of heading to the ballpark is finding out which team comes out on top on any given night, but the real reason fans pack MLB stadiums is to see the game’s biggest stars up close. And as the Official Ticketing Partner of MLB, SeatGeek makes it easier than ever to lock in your seats to see these stars shine live all season long.

Ahead of Opening Day, we break down the five most exciting players to watch in each league, including the reigning MVPs you’ll want to plan trips around to see in person. 

Most exciting American League players to see live

From MVP sluggers to breakout aces, here are the American League stars worth planning a SeatGeek trip to the ballpark to see in person.

Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge 

All rise!

Judge is on a Hall of Fame trajectory after winning his third AL MVP award, and he’s only getting better with age. The slugging outfielder has accumulated at least 9.7 bWAR in each of his last three fully healthy seasons, all of which he took home MVP honors. He owns four 50-homer seasons and is regularly atop the MLB leaderboard in long balls, RBIs, walks, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS. 

Judge’s power is something to marvel at in person, both in games and if you’re fortunate enough to watch the hulking 6-foot-7 outfielder take batting practice. The Yankee captain looks like he could just as easily put pads on and rush the quarterback in the NFL, yet it’s opposing pitchers—not QBs and offensive linemen—he bullies on a daily basis. Judge can hit the ball out of any ballpark, and he has prestigious power to all fields. He’s also among the most well-rounded hitters the game has right now, and he’s a sneaky good defender with one of the best and strongest outfield arms out of right field. 

Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal

It’s hard to have a better two-year stretch on the mound than Skubal has had between 2024 and 2025. The two-time defending AL Cy Young winner owns a 31-10 record with a 2.30 ERA, 469 strikeouts (10.9 K/9) while pounding the zone (1.6 BB/9) over 62 starts and 387 1/3 innings pitched since the start of 2024. 

The Tigers ace is a true workhorse, too, as the dominant southpaw regularly pitches deep into games. He pitched fewer than five innings in just two of his 31 starts in 2025, and 20 of those 31 starts were quality starts (6+ innings pitched and three or fewer runs allowed). Additionally, he struck out 10+ batters 10 times.

Skubal owns one of the best heaters of any starter in the game, and his changeup could very well be the best secondary offering of any starting pitcher in baseball. The Tigers are already an important team to watch after making the postseason each of the last two years, but Skubal’s starts are truly must-see TV and are absolutely worth a trip to the ballpark every five games. 

Skubal’s 2024 season was incredible and established him as the best starting pitcher the game has to offer, and he somehow improved in 2025. Ahead of free agency next offseason, can Skubal get even better in 2026? 

Red Sox starting pitcher Garrett Crochet

We’ll stick with the arms here with another dominant left-handed starter in Boston’s Crochet. After starting his career as a dominant reliever for the other Sox team in Chicago, Crochet broke out in his first run as a starter in 2024, with a 3.58 ERA and over 200 strikeouts in 146 innings. He took his game to the next level in his first year in Boston last season, pitching 205 1/3 innings across 32 starts with a 2.59 ERA and an MLB-leading 255 strikeouts and 11.2 K/9. 

Were it not another elite season from Skubal, Crochet likely would have kicked off his Red Sox tenure with a Cy Young award. A second-place finish is nothing to scoff at, and the big southpaw is among the top contenders for the award in 2026. 

Crochet enters 2026 as baseball’s premier punchout artist. He lights up radar guns and has an elite sweeper to get strikeouts, which batters hit just .126 against in 2025. Ace-level pitchers are awfully exciting to see in person, and Crochet has established himself as one of baseball’s best arms heading into his age 27 season.

Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.

Witt is arguably baseball’s most well-rounded player. The Royals’ star shortstop hits for average, power, plays elite defense with a cannon of an arm and is in the 100th percentile in sprint speed, per Baseball Savant. Witt is basically a create-a-player in a video game with all his stat attributes cranked up to 99. 

With how good Witt has been to start his career—three top-10 MVP finishes along with two Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers each—it feels like he’s been around forever. But 2026 will be just his fifth MLB season and he turns only 26 in June. 

When you see Witt play in person, you just feel his presence. Pitchers have to be careful with him since he has 30-homer power, yet he also puts immense pressure on defenses given he can leg out routine groundballs for infield singles and turn singles into doubles and doubles into triples. And when he’s on the bases, Witt can make you pay, as he has four 30-steal seasons to kick off his career. Add in that he’s an absolute eraser at shortstop and few, if any, players impact the game in all phases like Witt does.

Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh

The American League is loaded with elite players who easily could have garnered a writeup in this final AL spot, but we’ll go with Seattle’s Raleigh, who is fresh off a historic season and who owns maybe the best nickname in baseball: “The Big Dumper.”

Raleigh has had an excellent start to his MLB career, hitting 30+ homers three times in four full seasons and setting tons of Mariners and MLB records for catchers and switch hitters alike. He took his game to another level in 2025, however, leading MLB with 60 homers—a new single-season record for the Mariners as well as for catchers and switch hitters. Raleigh has top-line power from both sides of the plate, and his ability to put the ball in the air with force makes him a threat to leave any ballpark against any pitcher.

Raleigh’s defense is also something all baseball fans can get behind. In addition to calling pitches and leading one of MLB’s best pitching staffs, Raleigh won both the Gold Glove and Platinum Glove in 2024 and has led the game in runners caught stealing numbers twice since 2024. He also catches more than anyone else and is an “iron man” throwback who’d impress in any era.

Most exciting National League players to see live

If you like jaw-dropping homers, filthy strikeouts or even both of those from the same player, this NL crew is your must-see list.

Dodgers designated hitter/starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani

I mean, you knew Ohtani would be on this list, right? The two-way superstar is one of just two four-time MVP winners in league history and profiles as both an elite hitter along with being a Cy Young-caliber pitcher on the mound. 

At the dish, Ohtani is averaging 46.6 home runs per season since 2021 (his first MVP season) and he has developed into someone who can hit over .300 with a near-.400 on-base percentage as well. Add in that he’s among baseball’s fastest players who stole 59 bases in 2024 and has 38 triples since 2021 and there’s basically nothing Ohtani can’t do when it comes to the offensive side of things. 

Ohtani’s bat alone makes him a must-watch, but that he can also be one of MLB’s top starting pitchers is what makes him so extraordinary. He didn’t pitch in 2024 after recovering from elbow surgery, but Ohtani returned to the mound with force in 2025 with a 2.87 ERA in 14 starts as the Dodgers eased him back into a regular pitching workload. With fewer limitations in 2026, Ohtani could well flirt with winning both MVP and Cy Young honors. 

We’ve never seen anyone like Ohtani in baseball’s long and storied history, and if any single player is going to get you to the ballpark, it should be him.

Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes

Things appear to be turning around for the Pirates after some tough years, and they have the best young arm in the game leading the charge in Skenes. After going No. 1 overall in the 2023 MLB Draft, Skenes kicked off his MLB career with a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts, earning Rookie of the Year and All-Star honors in the process. His first full season was also incredible with a 1.97 ERA and 216 strikeouts in 187 2/3 innings, earning him his first Cy Young Award.

Not many pitchers in baseball history have gotten off to a better start to their career than Skenes, whose 6-foot-6 frame is nearly as imposing as his arsenal of pitches. The Pirates’ flamethrower averaged 98.1 mph with his fastball last year and was credited with throwing seven different types of pitches, all of which he threw at least 144 times. His 4-seam fastball and sweeper combo alone would have Skenes among the game’s elite, but he also has had incredible success with his changeup, which hitters have yet to figure out. 

Skenes is the type of guy whose starts you circle on your calendar each and every week, and for very good reason.

Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. 

It was awesome to see Acuna return from injury and put up big numbers last year as the 2023 NL MVP hit 21 home runs with a .935 OPS in 95 games after he tore his ACL in 2024. Now that Acuna is fully healthy heading into 2026, he should once again be viewed as one of the game’s most elite talents, and he should also have the Braves primed for a bounce-back season after a surprisingly poor 2025 campaign. 

Since debuting as a 20-year-old rookie in 2018, Acuna has simply dominated opposing pitchers. He regularly flirts with hitting .300 while also taking his walks, hitting for power and swiping bases. Across 162 games played, Acuna averages 37 home runs, 91 RBIs and 41 steals. He’s an elite power-speed threat who can make you pay either by putting the ball in the seats or stealing second base to get into scoring position. 

“Electrifying” may be thrown around too often for top players across sports, but Acuna certainly fits that bill.

Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz

The AL’s elite shortstop talent is Witt. The NL’s is De La Cruz. 

De La Cruz really burst onto the scene in 2024, hitting 25 home runs while also stealing 67 bases. The strikeouts can be a bit of a problem, but the star Reds shortstop can do anything he wants on the diamond. At 6 foot 5 and just over 200 pounds, De La Cruz is a whippy hitter who can generate elite bat speed and exit velocity numbers. He’s also a switch hitter, which makes him even harder for opposing pitchers to deal with. 

The speed is unreal as few fly like De La Cruz, who already has 139 career steals in just 420 games played. His frame and speed also help him defensively as De La Cruz can get to balls few other shortstops can, and he owns one of baseball’s strongest arms of any defender. 

Few players in the game have as much raw talent as De La Cruz, who has been among the game’s best and most exciting players since debuting in 2023. It’s scary to think he’s just 24 years old and has even more in the tank heading into 2026.

Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong

It was a true toss up between Crow-Armstrong and Arizona’s Corbin Carroll for this last spot, but we went with “PCA” in part because he may be the best defensive center fielder in the game.

No outfielder showcased better range than Crow-Armstrong last year, and he also has one of the strongest outfield arms in MLB. His blazing speed allows him to get to balls others just can’t come close to, and he often makes less-than-routine plays look easy given how elite his range is. That’s especially important when playing in the windy conditions at Wrigley Field for 81 games a year. 

But PCA is far more than just an elite talent with the glove. He slowed down a bit in the second half of 2025, but Crow-Armstrong had 31 home runs and 37 doubles last year while also stealing 35 bases and driving in 95 runs. When he’s on at the plate, he can impact the game at all levels like few others can. PCA will turn 24 just before Opening Day, and boy does it look like the Cubs have a good one for a long time.