Betts leads diverse roster of All-Stars atop annual list; top four players hail from different countries and territories for the first time
For the second consecutive season, All-Star outfielder Mookie Betts has the most popular player jersey in Major League Baseball. For the first time ever, the four most popular player jerseys in MLB are worn by players from four different countries and territories. After Betts (USA), fellow All-Stars Fernando Tatis Jr. (Dominican Republic), Ronald Acuña Jr. (Venezuela) and Javier Báez (Puerto Rico) round out the top four.
The 22-year-old Tatis, who entered the season with the third-most popular jersey, became the youngest player in history to rank in the top two most popular player jerseys and is the highest ranked Padres player since tracking began. With the third most popular player jersey of 2021, Acuña Jr. earned the highest ranking for an Atlanta Braves player in the ten years since MLB and MLB Players, Inc. began releasing jersey sales charts. Báez, fresh off a midseason trade to the New York Mets, saw his jersey soar in popularity, ranking number four, the highest since he finished the 2018 season at number three. The list, released jointly today by Major League Baseball and the MLB Players, Inc., tallied sales from MLBShop.com of Nike player jerseys since the beginning of the 2021 Championship Season.
After helping lead the Dodgers to their first World Series Championship in over 30 years and amassing more than 100 wins this year, the popularity of Betts and three of his teammates continued in 2021. Clayton Kershaw (#5), Cody Bellinger (#6) and Corey Seager (#8) made the Dodgers the only Club to have four players in the top 10 most popular player jerseys while guiding Los Angeles back to the Postseason for a franchise-record ninth consecutive year. Also in California, Shohei Ohtani’s standout season lifted his jersey to its second appearance on the most popular player jersey list. With the number nine ranking this year, Ohtani is the first Japanese player to make multiple appearance in the top 10 of most popular jerseys (he was number eight after his rookie year in 2018) since MLB and MLB Players, Inc. began releasing jersey sales charts.
Despite playing a limited number of games this season due to injury, perennial All-Star Mike Trout had the 13th most popular jersey in MLB, continuing his streak of appearing in every most popular player jersey list since his rookie season.
Following is the list of the 20 most popular MLB player jerseys this season.
Most Popular MLB Player Jerseys
Based on sales from MLBShop.com of Nike jerseys since 2021 Opening Day
- Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers
- Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres
- Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves
- Javier Báez, New York Mets*
- Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
- Cody Bellinger, Los Angeles Dodgers
- Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
- Corey Seager, Los Angeles Dodgers
- Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels
- Nolan Arenado, St. Louis Cardinals
- Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies
- Anthony Rizzo, New York Yankees*
- Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
- Manny Machado, San Diego Padres
- Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves
- Francisco Lindor, New York Mets
- Jose Altuve, Houston Astros
- Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals
- Jacob deGrom, New York Mets
- Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers
*Contains combined sales from previous & current teams
