The greatest MLB DHs of all time

Spending his entire Hall of Fame career with the Boston Red Sox during the 1970s and '80s, Rice was one of the greatest outfielders of all time. That said, of the 2,089 games that Rice appeared in, 530 came while in the designated hitter spot at some point in those contests. In that role, Rice posted 98 home runs with 350 RBIs, while batting .285. In 1977, Rice was penciled in for 116 games at the position. Overall that season, he batted .320 with 39 homers and 114 RBIs while earning his first All-Star nod and concluding as the Outstanding Designated Hitter Award winner.

One of the great pinch-hitters in MLB history (.274 career average in that role), Staub's career began in 1963 and spanned parts of three decades with five teams. The designated hitter was adopted by the AL 11 seasons into Staub’s tenure. Of the 2,951 games Staub appeared in, a career-high 478 came in the DH role. From that position, Staub also batted .274, slugged .434 with an OPS of .780, and hit 63 of his 292 career homers and recorded 325 RBIs while making nearly 2,100 plate appearances. In 1978 with Detroit, Staub was honored as the sixth recipient of the Outstanding Designated Hitter Award.

One of the most dependable hitters in the game during the ’70s and half of the ‘80s, yet Johnson is likely a forgotten name with the casual MLB fan. Johnson played for seven different teams, and won two World Series with the New York Yankees, from 1972-‘86. During his big-league tenure, Johnson recorded 744 games and more than 2,800 plate appearances in the DH role. He hit .265 while serving as his team's designated hitter, and posted 115 of his 196 home runs. Overall, Johnson fell just one RBI shy of 700 for his regular-season career.

A fan favorite, not just in the cities he played for (notably Cleveland, Philadelphia and Chicago), but throughout the majors. The Hall of Famer was a highly serviceable first baseman for a good chunk of his 22-year MLB tenure, but he extended that stellar career — and remained a dominant hitter — as a DH as the years added up. In that role, Thome played 819 games and made more than 3,400 plate appearances. As a designated hitter, Thome clubbed 205 of his 612 home runs and sported an impressive .923 OPS. When it comes to hitters we loved to watch, Thome's near the top of the list.

It's a vast understatement to say that the mid-2000s were very good to Hafner, who hit 200 of 213 home runs in 1,043 games as a designated hitter. The longtime Cleveland slugger, and the epitome of the prototypical DH, enjoyed his best season in 2006, when he set career highs with 42 home runs, 117 RBIs and an OPS of 1.097. For his career, Hafner batted .273 and recorded 1,107 hits to go down as one of the best hitters in the history of the storied Cleveland franchise. Even with his success, Hafner never made an All-Star team.

Carty played parts of 15 seasons in the majors from 1963-79. And, like most players on this list, the designated hitter helped Carty stay active after his first eight seasons of action were spent in the NL. Of the 1,651 games the versatile Dominican played in the majors, 618 came as DH. Carty hit a stellar .289, with an OPS of .807, while making more than 2,500 plate appearances in the DH spot. That also included 82 of his 204 home runs and 361 RBIs while playing for AL teams in Texas, Oakland, Cleveland and Toronto.

Butler began as a quality first baseman with Kansas City, but his career spanned 10 seasons thanks, largely, to the designated hitter. Butler was a .283 hitter while making 3,865 plate appearances as DH. He also clubbed 96 home runs and posted 486 RBIs from that spot. In 2012 with the Royals, Butler earned his only All-Star nod and won the Outstanding Designated Hitter Award for batting .313, while setting career highs with 29 home runs, 107 RBIs and also posting an OPS of .882. It was the third time during Butler's career that he hit .300 or better for a full season.

"The Cobra" is one of the great right fielders of all time. He's a seven-time All-Star, took home MVP honors in 1978 and is a three-time Gold Glove recipient. Late in his career when playing for Oakland, Milwaukee, the then-California Angles and Toronto, Parker made 2,047 plate appearances as the designated hitter. He batted .260 in that spot for his career, and recorded 60 home runs with 277 RBIs. In 1989 with the A's, Parker was honored as baseball's Outstanding Designated Hitter Award winner while clubbing 22 homers with 97 RBIs. He then repeated as that award winner in '90, with the Brewers, when he went deep 21 times with 92 RBIs, while also batting .289.

Perhaps the most versatile player on this list. Downing, whose career began in 1973 with the Chicago White Sox, played more than 2,300 games in the majors. He served as the designated hitter in 822 of those contests, most as a member of the then-California Angels, where he is a member of their Hall of Fame. As a DH, Downing, who also played for the Texas Rangers, batted .272 and clubbed more than 125 of his 275 home runs, and recorded 412 RBIs, during a highly-respected 20-year career, which included an All-Star nod in 1979.

According to STATS Perform, of those players whose primary position is considered to be the designated hitter, Sweeney ranks fourth all time in career batting average (.297) and seventh in on-base percentage (.366). Sweeney, who spent all but three of his 16 big-league seasons (1995-2010) with the Kansas City Royals, where he was a five-time All-Star, was one of the more underrated players during his MLB tenure, Sweeney, also a solid first baseman, notched 608 games as a DH, and drove in 379 runs while posting an OPS of .805 from the spot. 

Known as "The Bull," Luzinski spent the first 11 seasons of his career in the NL with Philadelphia, winning a World Series in 1980. On three occasions with the Phillies, Luzinski hit .300 or better (1975-'77) for a full season, and three times belted at least 34 homers (1975, '77, '78). When Luzinski joined his hometown Chicago White Sox in 1981, he quickly found a home as a DH. He named baseball's top designated hitter in 1981 and '83. During the latter, he hit 32 homers and drove home 95 runs while helping the White Sox win the AL West. For his career, Luzinski knocked 83 home runs and recorded 311 RBIs, while posting an OPS of .810, during 512 games as a designated hitter.

Thornton began his MLB career in 1973 in the NL with the Chicago Cubs, but it was his time with the Cleveland Indians from 1977 until his playing days ended in 1987 where he enjoyed his most extensive success. A member of the Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame and a two-time All-Star, Thornton hit 125 home runs and posted 459 RBIs while playing 735 games and making more than 3,100 plate appearance as the designated hitter. Three times during his career, Thornton belted at least 32 homers for Cleveland, and twice registered 100 or more RBIs.

When it comes to the term "professional hitter," Morales was certainly one of the most underrated in that category. During a 13-year MLB career that spanned seven teams, Morales spent a great deal of time as a designated hitter. He made 3,438 plate appearances at the position and hit .260 with 131 of his 213 home runs and 461 RBIs while serving in that role. A Silver Slugger Award winner during Kansas City's run to a World Series title in 2015, Morales also won the Outstanding Designated Hitter Award the same season, when he batted .290 with 22 homers, 106 RBIs and rapped out 41 doubles overall.  

Martinez essentially spent an even amount of his career catching and serving as a DH. A total of 869 games had Martinez penciled in as the latter. Martinez, who starred for Cleveland and later with the Detroit Tigers, was a .295 overall hitter during his stellar 16-year career, which featured five All-Star nods and two Silver Slugger Awards (2004, '14). During that 2014 season, Martinez also took home the majors' Outstanding Designated Hitter Award for setting career highs in homers (32) and batting average (.335). The latter ranked second in the majors behind Jose Altuve's .341 performance.

Davis enjoyed a stellar 19-year MLB career, and his tenure was practically evenly split between playing all three outfield positions and serving as the DH. Davis logged 1,161 games while holding down the designated hitter role, and hit .282 and clubbed 200 of his 350 career home runs from that spot. In 1991 while playing for the Minnesota Twins and winning his first of three World Series titles, Davis hit 29 home runs, recorded 34 doubles and drove home 93 RBIs, while slugging .507, to win MLB's Outstanding Designated Hitter Award.

First off, Thomas was a solid first baseman for the Chicago White Sox, and it's long been known that he would rather play the field than solely hit on a game-by-game basis. However, the two-time AL MVP with the Chicago White Sox (1993, '94) and the 1997 batting champion (.347), Thomas made more plate appearances as a DH (5,698 plate appearances) than any other position. Thomas recorded 1,288 hits and 269 of his 521 home runs as a designated hitter, which was where he spent most of his time after leaving Chicago, and playing for Oakland and Toronto from 2006-'08.

The Detroit Tigers legend was a four-time All-Star and an exceptional outfielder. However, late in his career, Horton took advantage of the designated hitter to continue his success as one of the game's best hitters. He won the Outstanding Designated Hitter Award in 1975 (the third recipient) with the Tigers, when he batted .275 with 25 homers and 92 RBIs. Then again in 1979, the second-to-last of his 18-year career, with Seattle, when he went deep 29 times and recorded a career-high 106 RBIs. Horton is considered one of baseball's first stars to truly make a living as a DH (playing 751 games and recorded 410 RBIs in the role).

Baylor was fortunate enough to enjoy major league success as both a player and a manager. He was an All-Star and an MVP with the California Angels (1979), a World Series champion in Minnesota (1987) and was the NL Manager of the Year in 1995 with the Colorado Rockies. Baylor began his playing career in 1970, and it lasted until 1988. Throughout that span, Baylor made more than 5,300 plate appearances and recorded 1,210 hits as the designated hitter, while also clubbing 219 home runs and posting 803 RBIs. He won the Outstanding Designated Hitter Award  in both 1985 with the New York Yankees and for Boston in '86.

As of 2023, Cruz was still swinging on a career that's spanned parts of three decades. And, thanks to the designated hitter, Cruz has made quite the living in the big leagues. Entering the 2023 season, Cruz appeared in more than 1,000 games as a DH. The seven-time All-Star clubbed more than 240 homers and recorded better than 690 RBIs from that position. For his career, in which he's starred for Texas, Seattle and most notably, Minnesota, Cruz has posted more than 2,000 hits and 450 home runs. Cruz won the Outstanding Designated Hitter Award with the Mariners in 2017, hitting .288 with 39 homers and a career-high 119 RBIs, and then again as a Twin in 2019, when he batted .311 with 41 home runs and 108 RBIs.

Time to highlight yet another Chicago White Sox offensive legend. While Baines played more than 1,000 games as an outfielder, he spent 1,643 as a DH during his remarkable 22-year Hall of Fame career, which featured time with five teams. The latter included 5,807 plate appearances, where Baines posted 1,690 hits with 236 home runs and 981 RBIs. In 1987 and '88, the six-time All-Star won the Outstanding Designated Hitter Award for the White Sox. Overall, Baines batted. 289 and had 2,866 hits with 384 home runs for a legacy as one of the game's best hitters.

A seven-time All-Star, Molitor was a stellar infielder for the Milwaukee Brewers during the 1970s and into the '80s. However, Molitor continued what would be a Hall of Fame run as a designated hitter, mostly for Toronto and Minnesota. He first won the Outstanding Designated Hitter Award in '93, when he helped the Blue Jays win the World Series (and take home series MVP honors) by hitting a career-high 22 homers with 111 RBIs, and batting .332. Three years later with the Twins, Molitor won it again after batting a career-high .341 and also setting a personal best with 113 RBIs. He hit .308 recorded 1,457 of his 3,319 hits while making 4,727 plate appearances as the DH. 

A lifetime .290 hitter, McRae was a three-time All-Star, and also named the majors' top designated hitter in 1976, '80 and '82 — all coming as a valued member of the Kansas City Royals. McRae filled the DH spot in 1,388 games during his illustrious major league career, and recorded 1,526 hits, 143 home runs and 808 RBIs. He led the majors with 133 RBIs during the 1982 campaign. The designated hitter position only solidified McRae as one of the game’s best hitters. He batted .295 from the DH spot, and also drew 482 walks. 

Maybe it's a stretch, but there's a chance that before Ohtani's major league career comes to an end, he would top this list. After all, the guy was the majors' Outstanding Designated Hitter Award winner for 2021 and '22. The two-way star has spent a majority of his offensive time as a designated hitter since debuting in 2018. By the end of the 2022 campaign, Ohtani made 1,884 plate appearances as the Los Angeles Angels' DH. In that spot from 2018-'22, the 2021 MVP batted .266 with 122 home runs, 95 doubles, 21 triples and 328 RBIs. He also walked 242 times and had an .886 OPS. Of course, he's still going strong as one of the biggest stars in the game.

In December 2002, Ortiz was released by Minnesota, following an underachieving tenure that spanned parts of his first six major league seasons. Ortiz then hooked up with the Boston Red Sox, and the rest was history — of the Hall of Fame variety. There are those who will argue that "Big Papi" is the greatest DH of all time, and rightfully so. The 10-time All-Star and three-time World Series champion has won a record eight Outstanding Designated Hitter Awards. While making 8,861 plate appearances as a DH, Ortiz hit 485 of his 541 home runs, drove in 1,569 runs, batted .289, slugged at a .559 clip and posted an OPS of .942. He's a castoff, who became an icon, then a legend.

Martinez was such a consistently great DH that MLB's Outstanding Designated Hitter Award (which he won five times) was named after him near the end of his final season in 2004. Martinez, who spent his entire 18-year career with the Seattle Mariners, spent 1,403 of the 2,055 games he played as the DH. According to STATS Perform, of those players whose primary position is considered to be the DH, Martinez ranks first in MLB history in batting average (.312), second in OBP (.419), fourth in slugging (.552) and sixth in hits (2,247). A seven-time All-Star and two-time batting champ (1992, '95), Martinez was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019.