Baseball’s Biggest Influencers: Ranking The 14 Most-Followed MLB Players On Instagram

Baseball is a truly international sport with hundreds of millions of avid fans across the United States, Asia, The Caribbean, and Central America.

With all of that international appeal, these are the 14 most-followed MLB players on Instagram and it is interesting to see how top-heavy the list of baseball’s biggest influencers is. In particular, the most-followed MLB player on Instagram, has more followers than the next top four combined!

These Are The 14 Most Followed MLB Players On Instagram

It should come as no surprise that Shohei Ohtani is the most-followed MLB player on Instagram. He is the face of the game at the moment and quite possibly the best two-way player the sport has seen.

But the gap between him and the rest of the field on Instagram highlights a disparity not just between Shohei and the other most-followed MLB players on Instagram but between those players and athletes in other sports. For context, LeBron James has 148 million more followers than Ohtani. But it is a sport where fans tend to follow teams versus individual athletes.

With that said, let’s check out the 14 most followed MLB players on Instagram aka baseball’s biggest influencers.

1. Shohei Ohtani: 9.7 million

First up is the man, the myth, the legend: Shohei Ohtani. He leads all MLB players with 9.7 million followers on Instagram.

Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to hit 50 home-runs and steal 50 bases in the same season. He smashed the record for the fastest to the 40-40 club in just 126 games, the previous record was 147. And he is arguably the best player on the mound and at the plate, something that is just unheard of in the modern game of baseball.

For all of those reasons, it’s no wonder that Ohtani is the most-followed MLB player on Instagram. However, it is surprising how much he dwarfs the others.

2. Mike Trout: 2.2 million

Angels outfielder Mike Trout is the second-most followed MLB player on Instagram with 2.2 million followers. Interestingly, he didn’t post in his feed once in the entire month of August. His last post was on July 28th and nothing through the dog days of Summer.

One thing that Mike Trout does well with his feed is share a good mixture of personal posts and sponsored posts. He has a lot to promote, the dude is a busy guy. He’s a father. And there is a solid mix of all that in his IG feed along with professional photos from games. The overall quality of his posts is definitely a cut above the rest of the league.

t-3. Aaron Judge: 2 million

Coming in a tie for the third-most Instagram followers among all Major Leaguers is New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge with 2 million followers. This one surprises me because I would expect as the face of the Yankees, the most popular baseball team on earth, and a celebrity in the biggest city in America, that he would have a lot more followers but Judge is only 33 and will certainly continue to grow in fame over time.

The thing about following Aaron Judge on Instagram though is you’re going to see primarily sponsored posts. His last 4 posts to his Instagram feed were all promotional. As the captain, he’s a busy guy. But is he really too busy to hit the fans with some behind-the-scenes moments from his life?

t-3. Fernando Tatis Jr: 2 million

Tied with Aaron Judge at 2 million Instagram followers is Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. from the Dominican Republic. Tatis has a very distinct and perfectly curated Instagram feed with action shots and pro shots of him playing the game and traveling.

Unlike some of his peers, Fernando Tatis Jr. appears to be using his Instagram feed more for personal branding and to promote himself versus promoting brands like some other athletes. If you’re a Tatis Jr. fan or Padres fan in general it’s a great feed to keep up with.

5. Starling Marte: 1.9 million

Mets outfielder/DH Starling Marte has sole possession of the #5 spot of the most-followed MLB players on Instagram with 1.9 million followers. Another MLB superstar from the Dominican Republic, Marte has definitely seen a bump in his followers since joining the Mets.

I didn’t really realize how funny Starling Marte was until I first came across his Instagram feed. The guy is out here racking up ‘likes’ on galleries of him posing with exotic animals like Mike Tyson in The Hangover.

t-6. Bryce Harper: 1.7 million

Now we enter a four-way tie for 6th place with Bryce Harper coming up first with 1.7 million Instagram followers.

Harper’s been a massive star in the league for years and signed a $330,000,000 contract with the Phillies, all guaranteed, which included a $20M signing bonus and a base salary of around $25M per season. Which makes me wonder why his entire Instagram feed appears to be promoting brands… His last 6 posts to the feed were all promotional. Nothing just for the love posting!

t-6. Juan Soto: 1.7 million

Mets outfielder Juan Soto is in the tie for 6th with 1.7 million Instagram followers. His feed is interesting. It presents as very specifically curated and a mixture of personal posts and sponsored but even the sponsored posts have a little extra flair to them which signals that he actually cares about the content he’s promoting.

That said, there are a lot of promotional posts… More than I’d like to see from someone I would consider following on Instagram.

t-6. Mookie Betts: 1.7 million

With 1.7 million Instagram followers, Mookie Betts is also tied with Harper and Soto above as the 6th most followed player in Major League Baseball. I dig Mookie’s feed. The Dodgers’ shortstop keeps it different on there and he celebrates his W’s, most recently posting a photo of himself celebrating a Dodgers sweep.

Followers want to know the athlete. They want to see highlights and personality. Mookie Betts is doing a solid job at sharing that content.

t-6. Ronald Acuña Jr: 1.7 million

The last of the four Major Leaguers in a four-way tie for 6th place with 1.7 million followers is Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. from Venezuela.

There are a whole lot of branded posts in his feed but I guess you could give him credit for ensuring they are all produced really well. His feed doesn’t present as overly sponsored but if you are following him on IG then that’s what you are in store for.

10. Jose Altuve: 1.5 million

In 10th place of the most-followed MLB athletes we have the shortest man in baseball: 2-time World Series champion Jose Altuve. He’s a 9x All-Star, the 2017 MVP, and has over $200 million in career earnings.

With 1.5 million followers on Instagram, the Venezuelan second basemen has an interesting feed that he seems to genuinely care about because there is a large proportion of personal photos compared to his peers… What’s wild htough is he’s the 10th most-followed MLB player and hasn’t posted to his feed in 2 years! Altuve has only posted to his Instagram feed twice since 2019…

11. Javier Baez: 1.4 million

With the 11th most followers in Major League Baseball we have Tiger shortstop Javier Baez with 1.4 million followers. One look at his feed and you know that he’s mostly in charge of it, or at least gets to post whenever he wants as there are family photos throughout. It’s a solid feed and doesn’t come off like one giant advertisement like some MLB players have set up.

12. Vladimir Guerrero Jr: 1.3 million

Blue Jays first basemen Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has the 12th most followers of any Major Leaguer on Instagram with 1.3 million. Born in Montreal, the son of an MLB legend from the Dominican Republic, Vlad Guerrero Jr. will continue to grow and grow his followers and be a massive star worldwide throughout his career, I can feel it.

His Instagram feed almost looks like there’s someone following him around at all times with a professional camera. Even the ‘candid’ photos have pro quality to them. There are red carpet photos, clips from games, BTS pics, and everything a fan of his would want to see, in theory.

13. Francisco Lindor: 1.2 million

Mets shortstop Francisco Lindo has the 13th most Instagram followers of any MLB player with 1.2 million followers. His feed is all over the board and I kind of love it. There are personal posts, videos/Reels, screenshots of headlines, gloating posts, candid pics, there are some advertisements but it’s not a feed overrun by them.

14. Yu Darvish: 1.1 million

This entire list of the most-followed MLB players on Instagram has two Japanese-born players as the bookends. We started with Shohei Ohtani and finish with Yu Darvish who has 1.1 million Instagram followers. A quick look at his feed has me wondering if someone within the Padres’ organization runs it because it is almost all in-game posts.

Darvish has been with the Padres since 2021. They’re a great organization but no one would claim they are the biggest franchise around, I don’t think. Which is to say that much of what lands Yu Darvish on this list is the mixture of American fans and Japanese fans. He’s truly a global star.