Ranking baseball's Top 10 lineup duos for 2023

Ranking baseball's Top 10 lineup duos for 2023

March 6th, 2023

Dynamic duos. Their prevalence isn’t limited to the world of superheroes. They’re also found among superstars of the diamond -- superstar hitters in MLB lineups, to be more specific.

These are sluggers who complement one another like peanuts and Cracker Jacks, propelling their clubs to success with their prodigious production at the plate.

So what are the best lineup duos in the Majors heading into the 2023 season? We rank the Top 10 here:

1. and , Padres

The margin between No. 1 and No. 2 on this list is razor thin, but we’ll give the nod to the younger and historically more durable combination of Soto and Machado.

Soto could very well be the best hitter in the game right now, with a power-eye combination that draws comparisons to Ted Williams and Barry Bonds. Even with his “down” year at the plate in 2022, his career slash line is .287/.424/.526 (157 OPS+) and he owns a walk rate of 19.1% over five Major League seasons.

All Machado did last year was finish runner-up in National League MVP Award voting with an .898 OPS (159 OPS+) and 32 home runs to help lead San Diego to the NL Championship Series. As Machado, Soto and the Padres seek the first World Series championship in franchise history, they’ll hope the best lineup duo in the game can get them there.

2. and , Angels

The trouble for Trout has been staying on the field the past several years. The three-time American League MVP hasn’t played in 150 games in a season since 2016, though when he has been in the lineup, he’s continued to be as elite as always at the plate. From 2017-22, he hit .299/.428/.630 with 182 homers, despite missing significant time due to injury. Last year, he belted 40 homers in only 438 at-bats.

Ohtani continues to leave us in awe of his abilities both at the plate and on the mound. Can he continue to be a superstar two-way player in the years ahead? The 2021 AL MVP and ’22 runner-up will likely produce something in the range of 30-35 homers and an OPS in the high-.800s at the plate, and when you combine that with a healthy Trout, watch out.

3. and , Dodgers

Like Trout, Betts has dealt with his share of injuries throughout his career, but in 142 games last year, he led the NL with 117 runs scored while launching a career-high 35 homers to go along with an .873 OPS. If you asked Mookie, he’d probably tell you he expected better from himself -- a scary thought for opposing pitchers.

Freeman, meanwhile, tied with Betts for the league lead in runs, while leading the NL with a .407 on-base percentage and leading the Majors with 199 hits and 47 doubles. The 2020 NL MVP finished fourth in MVP Award voting in ’22. In a Dodgers lineup that wasn’t upgraded this offseason, this duo will ensure big production continues from the L.A. lineup.

4. and , Astros

Heading into the 2022 campaign, we already knew Alvarez was a great hitter. Then he took it to an entirely different level, posting a 1.019 OPS with 37 homers in 561 plate appearances. The 25-year-old slugger then delivered some postseason heroics as the Astros went on to win the World Series, including a walk-off homer to beat the Mariners in Game 1 of the AL Division Series.

It looked for a time as if the best years of Altuve’s career were behind him -- in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he finished with just a .629 OPS, and the following season, while much better, was a far cry from the Altuve production of 2014-17. But he enjoyed a resurgence at the plate in ’22, putting together his finest season since he won the AL MVP Award in ’17. Altuve had a .928 OPS with 28 homers and 18 steals for Houston last year, proving he’s still one of the best hitters in baseball.

5. and , Cardinals

Goldschmidt finally won that elusive MVP Award after finishing in the top three of MVP balloting three times previously. He had the best offensive campaign of his 12-year MLB career in 2022, leading the NL in slugging (.578), OPS (.981) and OPS+ (180) while smashing 35 homers and driving in 115 runs. He’s entering his age-35 campaign, so the age curve isn’t exactly on his side, but entering his mid-30s didn’t stop him from delivering in ’22.

Goldschmidt’s teammate at the other corner of the infield, Arenado, had a tremendous season of his own, finishing third in NL MVP Award voting. The 10-time Gold Glove Award winner at third base made sure that his defensive wizardry didn’t far outpace his performance at the plate, where he posted a career-best 154 OPS+ with 30 homers. The Cards’ duo will look to make it back-to-back NL Central titles.

6. and , Braves

As Riley’s star grew over the past couple of seasons, we missed out on seeing Acuña’s star rise ever further after a spectacular start to his career. Over his first three MLB seasons, from 2018-20, Acuña owned a .909 OPS while averaging 42 homers and 32 steals per 162 games. Then came a tear in his right ACL just before the All-Star break in ’21.

That injury kept Acuña out until late April of last year, so we haven’t gotten to see a full season with both of these sluggers in the lineup. That could change in 2023, as Acuña looks to stay healthy all season and Riley looks to build on a pair of fantastic seasons as Atlanta’s everyday third baseman. The past two seasons, he's hit .288/.358/.530 with 71 homers, earning him a 10-year, $212 million extension.

7. and , Blue Jays

The Blue Jays waited all winter to be able to get back on the field after being bounced in the AL Wild Card Series by the Mariners last fall, and now they’ll look to their young star sluggers to lead a potent Toronto lineup. While Guerrero wasn’t able to replicate a monster 2021 campaign in which he finished runner-up to Ohtani in AL MVP balloting, he’s still one of the most feared sluggers in baseball.

Bichette, meanwhile, has been a hit machine, leading the AL with 380 over the past two seasons. He’s been consistently excellent at the plate over his brief big league career, with a .297/.340/.491 career slash line in four seasons.

8. and , Yankees

Judge certainly needs no introduction after his record-breaking performance in 2022, when he set an AL mark with 62 home runs for the Yankees. Fresh off signing a nine-year, $360 million contract to stay in New York, Judge will be hard-pressed to deliver an encore performance in ’23, but can we really doubt him after his historic season?

His fellow Bronx Bomber Stanton hasn’t kept up with Judge’s ascension among the ranks of the game’s greatest hitters, but he’s nevertheless a big threat anytime he steps to the plate. Despite being sidelined by injuries over the past two seasons, the former NL MVP, who himself hit 59 homers in 2017, has managed to belt 66 of them in 908 at-bats.

9. and , Twins

With his contract saga in the rearview mirror, Correa will get a chance to hopefully see what a full season of him and Buxton in the same lineup could do for Minnesota. Correa, who’s played in more than 150 games in a season only once, played in 136 last year, posting an .834 OPS with 22 homers.

Buxton has played in more than 100 games only once during his eight-year MLB career due to various injuries, never fully realizing his power-speed potential. We got a glimpse of what that might look like in the first half of the 2021 season, when he had a 1.180 OPS through May 6, when a hip injury sidelined him for about six weeks. Just three games into his return from the injured list, he fractured his left hand when he was hit by a pitch.

Knee and hip injuries limited Buxton to 92 games last season, but he still managed to hit a career-high 28 homers, continuing to show big power when he’s in the lineup.

10. and , Mets

Alonso put up his typical Polar Bear-type numbers in 2022, though he tied for the Major League lead in RBIs for the first time, driving in 131 runs to go along with 40 homers and an .869 OPS. One problem he hasn’t had so far in his career is being hurt -- he’s missed only 13 games over his four MLB seasons, proving to be among the most durable sluggers in the sport.

Lindor had a nice bounce-back campaign at the plate last year after his first season with the Mets didn’t go as well as he’d hoped. Following a .230/.322/.412 slash line in 2021, the star shortstop upped his OPS by more than 50 points in ’22, while also belting 26 homers and driving in a career-best 107 runs for New York.