Anonymous MLB player poll: Shohei Ohtani? Bobby Witt Jr.? Here's who players love watching most

New York Times

a day ago

We're not exactly sure where the months went, but the calendar tells us that it is indeed June, which means it's once again time for The Athletic's annual MLB Player Poll.
Over the course of 2 1/2 months, from spring training until early May, our writers interviewed more than 135 players across 21 teams and granted them anonymity to get their honest takes on the idea of robo-umps, what they've heard — good and bad — about other organizations, which players they most enjoy watching while on the clock and much more.
Advertisement
This is not exactly a scientific poll — not every player we spoke to answered every question or provided a quote in support of their choice — but it does provide an interesting look into the thoughts of those making up Major League Baseball in 2025.
Let's get into it.
Note: Some player quotes have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
After several years — and player polls — of Shohei Ohtani running away with the 'Who is the best player in baseball' prompt, we decided to reframe the question a bit and find out who players most enjoy watching play. In our minds, this question could be interpreted any number of ways. Whose style of play do they appreciate? Whose enthusiasm on the field is fun to watch? Any personal rubric would be accepted.
It turns out, after all that, that the prevailing answer was … still Shohei Ohtani, who earned over 20 percent of the vote. (He probably would have had more, but as was the case last year, more than one player talked themselves out of naming him for fear of being unoriginal.)
Ohtani was followed by Kansas City's Bobby Witt Jr., who collected a little over 10 percent of the responses. One player who voted for Witt summarized his reasoning nicely: 'He's quiet, goes about his work, balls out.'
'How can you honestly pick someone else?'
'It's so hard to get him out. What he does, I don't know if we'll ever see it again.'
'He makes it look too easy.'
'Shohei being able to do both, it just doesn't make any sense. There aren't enough hours in the day to work on your craft for both.'
'The versatility obviously stands out. He's always prepared, no matter who the pitcher is.'
'He's a big moment waiting to happen, especially with the bat. I think people have forgotten about him as a pitcher and he's electric. Hopefully, you never know coming back from a second Tommy John. The team he plays for is always on TV, he's really good and always works a good at-bat, always puts the ball in play.'
Advertisement
'He's a cheat code.'
'He's the best MyPlayer you could ever create.'
'You're watching someone have that kind of success on both sides of the ball. It's so rare. Players are blown away by it as much — or more — than fans are.'
'He literally does everything. He might be the best baseball player ever. He probably is.'
'I really want to see him pitch again.'
'He has an opportunity to hit a homer every single at-bat, more opportunity to do something exciting.'
'It's just going to be cool no matter what he does.'
'He's an animal. He's not from this world.'
'He can steal bags, hit for power, play good shortstop.'
'He's fast, he's got power, he's got a good arm, great glove, hustles, plays the game the right way, smart.'
'He's awesome. He's really great at every tool you want: defense, arm, speed, contact, power. Good guy. Fun to watch.'
'He doesn't have crazy size like Judge or Ohtani; he's pretty regular looking, but just (has) unbelievable talent. Last year was the first time I saw him live, and it was barrel, barrel, barrel. It was unreal.'
'His swing is so good.'
'Five-tool player. Athletic, plays a premium defensive position and plays it well. He's fast and he's even got another gear when he needs it. He does a lot of things the game of baseball is catered towards, and that's what makes him so exciting.'
'His defense is great, offense. I think he's got it all. I like watching him play.'
'He plays my position and he does everything at an elite level.'
'That guy's a freak of nature.'
'Everything. He does everything. Hitting. Power. Running. Defense.'
'His swag is very electric. First-pitch homer, that was crazy. How he runs the bases, how he swings. Everything is special about him. … I'd pay for a ticket to see him.'
'Seems like he has a lot of fun, like I play.'
Advertisement
'It's going to be something different every day. It's not always the speed, sometimes he'll run into a ball. Sometimes he'll make a sick play and go into the hole and throw the guy out to start a game.'
'He's probably the fastest guy in the league, and he seems to always have fun when he's playing. He's electric.'
'It's kind of a cool skill set he has — the base stealing, the power, the big arm. He has all the weapons and his ceiling is extremely high.'
'Elly's pretty fun to watch, except when he's running all over us.'
'Does everything well. Incredible athlete. Just the modern five-tool player. You see guys go from the infield to the outfield; he did the opposite. It's pretty impressive.'
'Just the way he plays the game, the way he can be a Gold Glove right fielder and play shortstop, too. His athleticism and his swing.'
'He's the most athletic player in the game and it seems like he's always having fun.'
'I wish I was as big and strong as him. He does things that only he can do on the baseball field. I feel lucky that I get to watch him every day.'
'People love power and offense. Every time he steps to the plate, you expect something special.'
'He can do it all.'
'He just hits the ball so hard.'
'Just the way he brings passion to the game.'
'He's my favorite player. He's a baller. Five-tool player.'
'He impacts the game in so many ways — hitting, defense and base running, all with a style to him.'
'Man, he's nasty. I think he's going to end up being the best pitcher in the sport, if he's not already. It's kind of crazy, too, because he's so young. I can't wait to see how he's going to get better over the next few years.'
'Defensively, he's incredible. He does things most people can't do. Offensively, it's always fun to watch guys. But defensively, that's where you show your true athleticism. But he does things I've never seen anybody else do.'
Advertisement
'He just has so much fun. He's got some swag.'
'He's the guy that if he comes off injury, he's going 4-for-4 with three homers. If he's getting booed at a stadium, he's going to hit a homer. He has that clutch gene in him.'
'Loved the feel he had for the moment in London.'
It probably should surprise no one that the current highest-paid player in MLB history tops this list with 15.6 percent of the vote, especially when you consider we began our polling roughly two months after the 26-year-old signed his historic 15-year, $765 million deal with the Mets this past offseason. But pitchers had a lot to say about what makes Soto such a fearsome hitter, and it starts with his patience at the plate.
'He doesn't swing at a lot of crap,' said one NL pitcher. 'Not a lot of swing-and-miss in his game and he can do damage.'
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Shohei Ohtani (14.1 percent) and Aaron Judge (9.4 percent) round out this year's top three.
'He's very disciplined. Just seems like he doesn't hit anything soft. Anything in the zone, he puts the barrel on it. His discipline is almost intimidating, for lack of a better word. Especially in a leverage situation, it's like you have to make a perfect pitch.'
'His ability to have plate discipline, no whiff and power is really, really difficult to face. There aren't many guys who have the power to hit like that but not the whiff. He hits mistakes every time. He doesn't chase.'
'It's ridiculous. If there's a moment where he can turn it on, he's just able to do it. It's crazy.'
'He has amazing control of the strike zone. You know he's probably not going to chase. He also has insane power and can hit the ball to all fields. He's such a tough out.'
'Oh, I have nothing for him. That's a tough at-bat for me.'
Advertisement
'He's the best hitter right now.'
'He's one of those guys who knows his strengths, knows his strike zone. He has that idea when he steps in the box, that feeling of he knows what he's going to do.'
'He rakes against me.'
'He puts fear in pitchers even when he's not due up in the inning. You're wondering about him the next inning.'
'That guy owns me. He's my nemesis.'
'I think he showed it last year in the postseason. Goodness gracious.'
'Honestly, just a great hitter.'
'Bat-to-ball lefties are hard for me. José is a really tough matchup.'
'He's been tough to pitch against.'
'He's very clutch.'
'He's just a consistent hitter throughout. Doesn't have a whole lot of holes, he's just a hitter that we have to flip the script on every game throughout the series. Whatever we do in Game 1, we can't do in Game 2 because he'll be hunting that. He's making adjustments on the fly and it makes scouting him that much harder.'
'Super explosive contact-wise and power-wise. You can't cheat him.'
'He comes through in clutch situations.'
'Smart hitter, doesn't miss, not a lot of holes. He punishes the ball. It looks like he welcomes those moments.'
The first and last time we posed this question to players was back in 2018, and amazingly, there are still a few holdovers here from that inaugural poll.
One thing is clear: Hitters did not want to see Chris Sale back then, and they don't sound all that excited about the potential of seeing him now, either. The 36-year-old and eight-time All-Star was a runner-up in that original poll but lands on top of this year's list with 16 percent of the vote. Our respondents had a lot to say about why, but one word kept coming up again and again (and again).
'Nasty.'
'He was untouchable last year. When you win all three categories in the Triple Crown, it's hard to name anyone else.'
Advertisement
'You want the challenge but he's just nasty.'
'He's nasty. I got one hit off him already, so I know I'm probably never going to get another one ever again.'
'In my opinion, he has a decent lead over anybody else. His fastball is so good, and last year he made a real effort to throw other pitches and keep hitters off-balance. The fastball sets up the changeup, and it just gets on you so quick. The hitters are so uncomfortable.'
'He's nasty for everybody. Everything's really hard, his changeup's really good. Hard to pick up. Everything's kind of funky coming out of all of the stuff he does.'
'I hit better from the left side, and he feels so challenging hitting from the left side. He might be the best pitcher in the game.'
'Really smart pitcher who just keeps getting better and has multiple ways to get you out.'
'(Wouldn't want to face him) in his prime.'
'I'm going with Aroldis because he throws so hard and is kind of wild on the mound. You don't really know where the ball is going to end up. It would be a tough at-bat if he's on and still nerve-racking when he's off.'
'I faced him in the minors when he was a starter and he was electric then — but now that he's throwing just one inning and giving it everything he's got? He's just taken it to another level.'
'I know he won't be there (because of the Pirates), but he's nasty. His control glove side to lefties, I've never seen before in my life. Throwing 102 up and in for strikes? Then hipping a 96 mph sinker that starts in on you? You can't pull the trigger on that. Then once you do, you foul one off, and then he throws an 88-mph changeup away. What do you do? I faced him maybe 8 or 9 times and it's hard to form an approach off of him. He's very mature for his age.'
'Have you seen the movement on his pitches? It's crazy.'
Advertisement
'His stuff. His fastball does different thing. It cuts sometimes if it's in. If it's up, it's going to rise. If it's low, it can rise or stay low. He can throw off the hitter and has good secondary stuff as well and has command of all his pitches. When I faced him, it wasn't fun.'
'He will remind people why this year. His stuff is crazy.'
'Blake Treinen's slider. For nine straight innings.'
'I cannot square (up) his stuff. Any pitch he throws me, I feel like I'm just beating it into the ground.'
'He's always tough. He's always given me a hard time. He's tough in the postseason.'
'He crossfires and throws sinkers hard, like 98 mph. The slider, big slider. It's going everywhere.'
(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Photo of Shohei Ohtani: Harry How; Chris Sale: Todd Kirkland; Juan Soto: Mary DeCicco / MLB Photos / Getty Images)