OPS in baseball is on-base percentage plus slugging percentage: one number for how often a hitter reaches base and how much damage he does when he hits. Yordan Alvarez led the 2026 regular season with a 1.033 OPS, the only qualified hitter over 1.000.
The two halves measure different things, which is why adding them works. A walk helps on-base percentage and does nothing for slugging; a home run counts once in on-base percentage and four times in slugging.
The two halves
On-base percentage counts how often a batter reaches base per plate appearance. MLB’s glossary counts hits, walks and hit-by-pitches as times on base, and leaves out errors, fielder’s choices and dropped third strikes.
Slugging percentage is total bases per at-bat, with each hit weighted by the bases it gives: a single is 1, a double 2, a triple 3 and a home run 4. Walks and hit-by-pitches are not in it at all, which is the gap on-base percentage fills.
A worked example: Alvarez’s 1.033
Alvarez had 179 hits in 567 at-bats in 2026: 102 singles, 34 doubles, 1 triple and 42 home runs. That is 102 + 68 + 3 + 168 = 341 total bases, and 341 divided by 567 is a .601 slugging percentage.
His on-base percentage was .432, helped by 109 walks. Add the two: .432 + .601 = 1.033. Every number here is ESPN’s 2026 regular-season line for him, read on October 21, 2026.
The 2026 OPS leaders
Of the 134 hitters ESPN lists as qualified for 2026, one finished over 1.000, three over .900 and 45 at .800 or better. The middle hitter in that group finished at .759.
| Rank | Player | Team | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yordan Alvarez | Astros | .432 | .601 | 1.033 |
| 2 | Pete Crow-Armstrong | Cubs | .372 | .570 | .943 |
| 3 | Willson Contreras | Red Sox | .386 | .516 | .901 |
| 4 | Ben Rice | Yankees | .363 | .534 | .897 |
| 5 | James Wood | Nationals | .388 | .503 | .891 |
| 6 | Shohei Ohtani | Dodgers | .377 | .512 | .889 |
| 7 | Junior Caminero | Rays | .360 | .524 | .885 |
| 8 | Pete Alonso | Orioles | .363 | .522 | .884 |
| 9 | Elly De La Cruz | Reds | .365 | .515 | .880 |
| 10 | Gabriel Moreno | Diamondbacks | .388 | .486 | .874 |
Source: ESPN, 2026 regular season, qualified hitters, read October 21, 2026.
Why OPS beats batting average
Batting average counts every hit the same and ignores walks. Chandler Simpson of the Rays hit .306 in 2026 with no home runs and 26 walks, for a .689 OPS that ranked 111th of the 134 qualified hitters. Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies hit .232, but his 45 home runs and 105 walks gave him an .857 OPS.
A higher average did not make Simpson the more productive hitter. OPS shows the walks and the extra bases that average leaves out.
OPS has a known limit: it adds two rates with different bases, on-base percentage per plate appearance and slugging per at-bat, as if a point of one were worth a point of the other. It is still the quickest single number for comparing hitters.
OPS and betting
Award markets lean on it. Alvarez’s league-leading OPS is part of the case for him on our MLB MVP odds and predictions page, where he is our American League pick; the ballots were submitted before the postseason.
For a single game, a hitter’s OPS says more about his chance of a hit or a total-bases prop than his average does, because it carries his walks and his power. Prices for those props are on the MLB player props page on game days. Our game predictions work from each team’s runs scored and allowed rather than from any one hitter’s OPS, and they are on the MLB predictions hub.