Who’s the best position player in the game today?

Is it the Yankees’ Aaron Judge? Or is it the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani? Could it have been Ronald Acuna Jr. or Mookie Betts?

In this week’s version of my Behind the Plate column — investigating trends among the Phillies, Mets, Yankees and the game — I’ll look at the above-mentioned candidates’ credentials as well as some interesting current scenarios.

Judgment call ... With Acuna Jr. and Betts sidelined, Judge has arguably emerged as the game’s best player.

Through Sunday’s game, Judge has 42 homers, 106 RBIs, a slugging percentage of .689, OPS of 1.002 and an OBP of .404. He has 12 intentional walks.

Against Toronto, Judge was walked with the bases empty and also three times in a game.

Can Judge dominate the game like Barry Bonds did nearly 20 years ago?

Judge still has a long way to go to possibly pass Bonds as far as homers, RBIs and hits. However, the Bronx Bomber is already within striking range in terms of OBP (Bonds, .444), slugging (Bonds .607), OPS (Bonds, 1.051) and OPS+ (Bonds 182, Judge 170).

In one 18-game span, Judge was on base 54 times — 27 times by walks, 25 by hits and twice by being hit by pitches. That gave him a line of .424 on base and .614 slugging.

If Judge continues to dominate the game, we will be seeing the 21st century version of Babe Ruth, who many of you never saw. If Judge’s production continues and he becomes a major threat to teams, you may see MLB create a new rule involving intentional walks.

Did you ever think we would see a player receive the same treatment Bonds did in the early 2000s?

A Show-Hei ... For the first few months of the season, Ohtani was considered the game’s best and the first triple-crown winner since Miguel Cabrera in 2012.

Through Sunday, Ohtani was hitting .298 with 35 homers, 83 RBIs, and an OBP of .385, slugging percentage of .616, and an OPS of 1.001. One glaring stat is his 32 stolen bases, as he had 86 before this year and averaged 12.2 per season.

His best overall season was a year earlier in Anaheim when he hit 44 homers with 95 RBIs and a .304 average. He had a .412 OBP, .654 slugging percentage and a 1.066 OPS.

Ohtani has 206 homers, 520 RBIs, a .278 average, a .369 OBP, a .566 slugging percentage and an OPS of .935.

The Tale of the Tape ... If you look at Judge’s and Ohtani’s overall numbers, they are comparable.

Judge: 299 homers, 678 RBIs, .287 average, OBP .404, slugging .600, and OPS 1.004. (nine seasons).

Ohtani: 206 homers, 520 RBIs, .278 average, OBP .369, slugging .566, and OPS .935. (six seasons).

Who’s the best, now? It’s hard to debate against Judge, but let the season play itself out.

Both of them will also have the pressure of leading their teams to the World Series and bringing home the much-wanted prize.

New York has the bigger pressure cooker here, not winning since 2009, while the Dodgers won it all in 2020.

It will be great to see them battle in a World Series this fall. There hasn’t been this type of caliber of player in both leagues battling for the triple crown in a while.

Only If ... Coming into the season, the prevailing feeling was Acuna was the best player in the game. Betts was considered to be second, and you could put Judge and Ohtani at third or fourth.

Acuna Jr. finished 2023 with 41 homers, 106 RBIs and a .337 average. He led the league in OBP (.416) and OPS (1.012) and had a .596 slugging percentage. Overall in seven years, Acuna Jr. had 165 homers, 417 RBIs, and a .379 OBP, a .525 slugging percentage and an OPS of .904.

Betts finished 2023 with 39 homers, 107 RBIs, and a .307 clip. He had a .408 OBP, .579 slugging percentage and a .987 OPS. Overall in 11 seasons, Betts had 262 homers, 796 RBIs and a .295 average along with his .375 OBP, .524 slugging percentage and his .899 OPS.

We will wait to see how Acuna and Betts will battle with Judge and Ohtani next year.

Schmidt Style ... Mike Schmidt dominated the game in parts of the 70s and 80s. His numbers fall below Judge’s and Ohtani’s, but “Schmitty” certainly was at the top of the charts in his day.

How interesting would it be to see Schmidt in his prime against Ohtani and Judge?

In 1974, Schmidt hit 36 homers with 116 RBIs and also had a .395 OBP, .546 slugging percentage and .941 OPS.

In 1975, he hit 38 homers with 95 RBIs, had a .367 OBP, .527 slugging and .890 OPS; 1976 - 38 homers and 107 RBIs, .376 OBP, .524 slugging and .900 OPS; 1986 - 37 homers, 119 RBIs, .403 OBP, .547 slugging and .937 OPS; And in 1987, 35 homers, 113 RBIs, 388 OBP, .548 slugging and .935 OPS.

Also, you have to remember that stats aside from homers and RBIs weren’t thoroughly stressed like today.

Slip Sliding ... Is it time to push the panic button like I asked last week? Since they were 61-32 on July 11, the Phillies have lost 16 of 24 games.

The Mets have scuffled with their Wild Card hopes, dropping nine of their last 15 since they were a season-high seven games above .500 on July 26.

The Yankees were 50-22 on June 14, but they stumbled somewhat, going 19-28 since then.

Maybe fate will work with them. The Phils play the Marlins, the Mets open the week against the A’s, and the Yankees play the hapless White Sox.

Readers Write

Hi Jeff,

The Phillies may be in trouble if their bats don’t pick up again. Sometimes, this team seems to live and die by the home run, which killed them in the playoffs last year.

If they are going to make a deep run, they need to find a way to survive when they aren’t just hitting deep shots. I think it is possible, but it may take some time and soul searching for them to get back in their groove before the playoffs.

Mitch Thomas

Bethlehem

Hi Jeff!

There was a second stanza to the Mets’ theme song. Here it is:

Oh, the butcher and the baker and the people in the streets,

Where do they go? To meet the Mets!

Oh, they’re hollering, they’re cheering & they’re jumping in the streets

Where do they go? To meet the Mets!

Oh, the fans are true to the orange & blue

So hurry up & come on down ‘cause we got ourselves a ballclub — the Mets of New York town!

Give ‘em a yell, give ‘em a hand

And let ‘em know you’re rooting in the stands.

Richard Ochs

Walnutport

Time Passages ... Each week, I’ll recall a former game or recollection from our major pastime.

The Phillies will begin a three-game series with the Miami Marlins Tuesday, and I thought I would look back to the team’s first meeting on May 17, 1993 in Florida. It was a 10-3 Phillies victory and raised their record to 26-10. Florida fell to 16-22.

In the game, the Phils’ pitching staff had 11 walks. Starter Ben Rivera had seven over five innings, reliever Bob Ayrault (remember him?) had three in 1.1 innings, and David West had one in 2.2 innings.

John Kruk had five hits and two RBIs, while Milt Thompson, Jim Eisenreich and Mariano Duncan also knocked in two runs. Dave Hollins finished with three hits and scored three runs. Future Phillie Alex Arias went 4-for-4 for the Marlins.

Any thoughts? I’d like to hear from you at tnsports@tnonline.com.