Matt Johnson
Who has the best lineup in MLB? With rosters largely set and Opening Day approach for the 2026 Major League Baseball season, it’s a good time to evaluate teams. Run production is always a priority and that’s why we’re focusing today on the best MLB lineups in 2026.
Let’s dive into our rankings for the best MLB lineups right now ahead of Opening Day 2026 with stats via FanGraphs.
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers have the best lineup in baseball. A season after the Dodgers’ lineup ranked sixth in batting average (.253), second in runs scored (825), second in home runs (244) and second in OPS (.768), they added Kyle Tucker. That’s another fringe NL MVP candidate to pair with Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts, along with All-Star hitters Will Smith and Freddie Freeman, all while Max Muncy, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman are at the bottom of the lineup. Los Angeles has depth, too. The Dodgers are really in their own tier in the MLB lineup rankings, and this group could be historically good if everyone stays healthy.
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2. Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves lineup, when healthy, is special. However, it’s also not as good as it was a few seasons ago. After posting a combined .878 OPS in his first three seasons, Austin Riley has a .760 OPS over the last two years. Michael Harris II (.697 OPS) and Ozzie Albies (.685 OPS) have also been below-average hitters in that span. Plus, Ha-Seong Kim is going to miss time and Mike Yastrzemski might be more of the .738 OPS hitter over the last two seasons combined than the guy who had an .839 OPS after being traded to Kansas City. The Braves lineup doesn’t have glaring holes like some of the others, but it certainly feels like its floor is lower than some are anticipating.
Related: Best MLB First Basemen 2026
3. Seattle Mariners
Considering that Eugenio Suarez only put up a .189 batting average and .682 OPS with the club, the Seattle Mariners lineup is better off replacing him with Brendan Donovan (.771 OPS over the last three seasons). We do expect statistical regression from Cal Raleigh in 2026, but Julio Rodriguez can put up MVP-lite production in the second half of a season and Randy Arozarena is a high-end No. 5 hitter. There’s a significant drop-off in the bottom half of the Mariners lineup, with a lot riding on Dominic Canzone or Cole Young breaking out at the plate. Even without that, there’s still a good chance of this being a top-five lineup in 2026.
Related: Best MLB Second Basemen 2026
4. New York Mets
Coming off a season where the New York Mets‘ lineup ranked sixth in OPS (.753) and fifth in both wRC+ (112) and home runs (224), defense was made a bigger priority in the offseason. Pete Alonso is now in Baltimore, with Marcus Semien brought in at second base, Bo Bichette signed to play third and Luis Robert Jr. in the outfield. We certainly see the upside for a lineup that has high-ceiling hitters in Robert and Francisco Alvarez. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that Robert has a .660 OPS over the last two seasons, Alvarez only has 554 at-bats in that span and Semien sports a .686 OPS in his last 1,120 ABs. We do love the top of the Mets’ lineup led by Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, Bichette and Jorge Polanco (.821 OPS in 2025), but there’s an argument to be made for extreme volatility with the bottom five in the batting order.
Related: Best MLB Third Basemen 2026
5. New York Yankees
In 2025, the New York Yankees lineup led MLB in OPS (.787), wRC+ (119), home runs (274) and runs scored (849), all by a fairly significant margin. That happened with Giancarlo Stanton taking just 249 at-bats, Jazz Chisholm Jr. (.813 OPS) missing 32 games and Anthony Volpe (.663 OPS) being a net negative for the lineup. Now, the counterpoint is that Trent Grisham (.811 OPS) may regress closer to who he was from 2021–24 (.678 OPS). A full season from Ben Rice (.836 OPS), with Ryan McMahon playing closer to his 2021–24 form (.748 OPS) and more at-bats from Stanton, outweighs the issues with Volpe and Austin Wells.
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6. Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays seemed to have ambitions this winter for either re-signing Bo Bichette or landing one of Kyle Tucker or Alex Bregman. Instead, they focused on pitching and brought in the likes of Kazuma Okamoto and Jesus Sanchez to fill gaps in the lineup. While Okamoto is intriguing, he’s unproven, and a sub-.750 OPS in his first season against MLB pitching isn’t out of the question. There’s also very real regression risk with George Springer, given his OPS jumped more than 200 points (.705 to .959) from the previous two seasons. With that said, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is a perennial AL MVP threat, this lineup will hit for plenty of power with a strong average, and we could get a breakout season from Ernie Clement.
Related: Best Designated Hitters 2026
7. Sacramento Athletics
We had to knock the Sacramento Athletics down one spot in our MLB lineup rankings because some of their statistics are inflated by playing home games in a minor-league ballpark. With that said, it’s not as big of a difference (.765 OPS at home vs. .732 OPS on the road in 2025) as some might expect. The Athletics finished last season with the seventh-most home runs (219), the sixth-best isolated power (.178) and the fifth-best slugging percentage (.431). They could be even better in 2026 with full seasons from Jacob Wilson (.311 BA and .800 OPS), Nick Kurtz (1.002 OPS) and the addition of Jeff McNeil (.746 OPS). While the A’s won’t hit for a high average nor steal a ton of bases, there’s a chance they finish top-five in runs scored and home runs in 2026.
Read More: MLB Power Rankings 2026, Evaluating all 30 Teams
8. Chicago Cubs
Out goes Kyle Tucker and in comes Alex Bregman for the Chicago Cubs‘ lineup. The real source of excitement at Wrigley Field will center on another season from Michael Busch (.866 OPS) and hopes that both Ian Happ (.859 OPS) and Nico Hoerner (.783 OPS) can build off what they did in the second half of the season. One underrated part of the Cubs’ lineup is that there isn’t really a massive hole, since even Carson Kelly (17 home runs and .761 OPS) hits for power. Whether or not Chicago can have one of the five best MLB lineups in 2026 will come down to Pete Crow-Armstrong either recapturing his pre-ASB form (.847 OPS with 25 home runs and 27 steals) or looking like the bottom-of-the-order hitter who had a .262 OBP, .634 OPS and just 6 home runs in the second half of the regular season.
Related: MLB Award Predictions 2026, including MVP Winner
9. San Diego Padres
In the second half of the 2025 season, Jake Cronenworth had a .380 OBP and Jackson Merrill put up an .811 OPS despite only having a 4.7 percent walk rate. It helped the San Diego Padres finish with the eighth-most runs scored (319) and rank 10th in OPS (.741) after the All-Star Break. We believe that Merrill can return to the version of the hitter that was an All-Star and Silver Slugger Award winner as a rookie in 2024. Plus, Ramon Laureano thrived in San Diego (.812 OPS) and Miguel Andujar (.302 BA and .762 OPS over the last two seasons) is a very good No. 8 hitter for this Padres lineup.
Related: Best MLB Pitchers 2026
10. Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles lineup was certainly a big disappointment in 2025, ranking 24th in runs scored (677) and 21st in OPS (.699). We’re expecting a massive leap forward in 2026. Landing Pete Alonso, providing a desperately needed right-handed power bat for Baltimore, certainly plays a role in that. Furthermore, we’re anticipating big leaps offensively from rookies Samuel Basallo and Dylan Beavers, with Gunnar Henderson also improving his offensive output. Plus, the addition of Taylor Ward (36 home runs and .792 OPS in 2025) now puts Baltimore in a spot where there might only be one hole in the lineup.
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