Last Updated: September 1st, 2026 by Michael Schatz
The cleanup hitter is one of the most coveted spots in a batting order in baseball. The idea of having three guys be able to get on base in front of a hitter is still somewhat of a dream today.
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But if the players in front of the hitter who is in the fourth spot of the batting order get on, it was always expected that that hitter would be ready to clean things up on the base paths and drive them all in. Let's take a look at some of those players who delivered at a high level when their teammates were able to do their jobs in front of them.
11. Babe Ruth: The Sultan of Swat
Babe Ruth was more of a three-hitter. He batted most of his career in that spot. However, a third of his career was still as a cleanup hitter. Babe Ruth is such an icon that we cannot avoid him on this list.
He batted fourth about as many times as you would see a player play in four seasons. He belted 148 home runs and sported an astonishing 1.163 OPS in his career at that spot in the batting order.
| Babe Ruth — Career | Total |
|---|---|
| G | 2504 |
| AB | 8399 |
| H | 2873 |
| HR | 714 |
| RBI | 2213 |
| SB | 123 |
| AVG | .342 |
| OBP | .474 |
| SLG | .690 |
| OPS | 1.164 |
10. Lou Gehrig: The Iron Horse
Now we go to the man who actually was the main cleanup hitter in that feared Yankee lineup. Lou Gehrig hit 383 home runs out of the four-spot. He was just two hits shy of two thousand while building up a batting average of .345 and an OPS of 1.097.
The Iron Horse didn't just play every day, but he had cleanup duty on a daily basis for the Yankees in the Bronx.
| Lou Gehrig — Career | Total |
|---|---|
| G | 2164 |
| AB | 8001 |
| H | 2721 |
| HR | 493 |
| RBI | 1995 |
| SB | 102 |
| AVG | .340 |
| OBP | .447 |
| SLG | .632 |
| OPS | 1.079 |
9. Hank Aaron: Hammerin’ Hank
It's always interesting to use this project to see how teams used some of the greatest hitters of all time. Hank Aaron saw the cleanup role for over a third of his career. He crushed 261 home runs in that spot while batting .307 and driving in 879 teammates.
He may have been a little better when he hit third in the lineup, but Aaron was just as dangerous when he was tasked with batting fourth.
| Hank Aaron — Career | Total |
|---|---|
| G | 3298 |
| AB | 12364 |
| H | 3771 |
| HR | 755 |
| RBI | 2297 |
| SB | 240 |
| AVG | .305 |
| OBP | .374 |
| SLG | .555 |
| OPS | .929 |
| MVP | 1 |
| All-Star selections | 21 |
| Gold Gloves | 3 |
| World Series titles | 1 |
8. Barry Bonds: The Home Run King
The stats are always ridiculous with Barry Bonds. He did start more games batting third than batting fourth, but his production as the cleanup hitter was actually better. He hit .306 in 1,010 games started as the number three hitter. But when he was batting cleanup, he hit .317 in 844 games started.
His OPS batting fourth was 1.173, while it was 1.127 when he batted third. I know it's a small difference because both are such high numbers, but it's just fascinating to see how these massive statistics lined up in this way for this massive baseball legend.
| Barry Bonds — Career | Total |
|---|---|
| G | 2986 |
| AB | 9847 |
| H | 2935 |
| HR | 762 |
| RBI | 1996 |
| SB | 514 |
| AVG | .298 |
| OBP | .444 |
| SLG | .607 |
| OPS | 1.051 |
| MVP | 7 |
| All-Star selections | 14 |
| Gold Gloves | 8 |
| Silver Sluggers | 12 |
7. Jimmy Foxx: Double X
Jimmie Foxx was one of the quintessential power hitters of his time. He kind of gets overshadowed by a couple of other guys on this list, but he was a true cleanup hitter during his career.
Most of his at-bats came batting fourth as he accumulated 229 home runs and 802 RBI while winning three MVPs during his career. His OPS from the cleanup spot was a gaudy 1.035 as Double X made sure that his teammates exited the base paths and scored when he had them in front of him.
6. Willie Mays: The Say Hey Kid
I know this one kind of makes you scratch your head. Willie Mays is so known for being in the top three spots of the batting order that it's kind of hard to believe that he spent the second-most time in his career batting fourth. Now that percentage is a lot lower than the other guys on this list.
But I want to highlight the fact that Mays actually had better percentages and averages as a cleanup hitter than he did batting third. He hit .315 with a .994 OPS when he batted fourth. He only hit .303 with a .938 OPS when he hit third. Of course I say he "only" accumulated those numbers, knowing full well that those numbers are amazing no matter where he hit in the lineup.
| Willie Mays — Career | Total |
|---|---|
| G | 3005 |
| AB | 10924 |
| H | 3293 |
| HR | 660 |
| RBI | 1909 |
| SB | 339 |
| AVG | .301 |
| OBP | .384 |
| SLG | .557 |
| OPS | .941 |
| MVP | 2 |
| All-Star selections | 20 |
| Gold Gloves | 12 |
| World Series titles | 1 |
| Rookie of the Year | 1 |
5. Albert Pujols: The Machine
Albert Pujols got older, his coveted third spot in the batting order seemed to slip. We started to see him bat in the cleanup spot more, and he was tasked with coming up big in that spot as well.
Pujols hit 132 home runs and drove in 513 RBI when he was placed fourth in the lineup card during his career. I will say we probably don't see him hit the 700-home run mark if he wasn't flexible enough to adjust his game down the stretch of his career.
| Albert Pujols — Career | Total |
|---|---|
| G | 3080 |
| AB | 11421 |
| H | 3384 |
| HR | 703 |
| RBI | 2218 |
| SB | 117 |
| AVG | .296 |
| OBP | .374 |
| SLG | .544 |
| OPS | .918 |
| MVP | 3 |
| All-Star selections | 11 |
| Gold Gloves | 2 |
| Silver Sluggers | 6 |
| World Series titles | 2 |
| Rookie of the Year | 1 |
4. Miguel Cabrera: Miggy
Even though you may remember that Miguel Cabrera started most of his games as the number three hitter, he still was able to log over 1,000 starts in the cleanup spot. In fact, Cabrera arguably played better when he was batting fourth.
He hit .315 with a .924 OPS when cleaning things up. He hit .308 with a .909 OPS when batting in a spot above.
| Miguel Cabrera — Career | Total |
|---|---|
| G | 2797 |
| AB | 10356 |
| H | 3174 |
| HR | 511 |
| RBI | 1881 |
| SB | 40 |
| AVG | .306 |
| OBP | .382 |
| SLG | .518 |
| OPS | .900 |
| MVP | 2 |
| All-Star selections | 12 |
| Silver Sluggers | 7 |
| World Series titles | 1 |
3. Frank Robinson: The Pioneer
Frank Robinson might be the quintessential cleanup hitter in baseball history. He logged over five thousand at-bats in that spot of the order. He hit 283 home runs on 1,507 hits and still stole 124 bases. That is some great all-around offense from a cleanup hitter.
All of that to say that he was driving in some all-time teammates between the Cincinnati Reds and the Baltimore Orioles, among others. His 973 RBIs out of that spot in the order show how much he was able to deliver on a daily basis.
2. Stan Musial: Stan the Man
I have found it interesting to look up how some of these all-time greats were utilized by their managers throughout their careers. Stan Musial did not see the cleanup spot very often compared to the number three spot in the batting order.
As expected, he was still able to deliver when he was put in a different spot. He has a nearly identical batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage between his stats for batting third and batting fourth.
| Stan Musial — Career | Total |
|---|---|
| G | 3026 |
| AB | 10972 |
| H | 3630 |
| HR | 475 |
| RBI | 1951 |
| SB | 78 |
| AVG | .331 |
| OBP | .417 |
| SLG | .559 |
| OPS | .976 |
| MVP | 3 |
| All-Star selections | 20 |
| World Series titles | 3 |
1. Mel Ott: The Pioneer Slugger
Mel Ott is another icon of the cleanup hitter role, like Frank Robinson. Unlike Frank, Ott came first. He batted fourth for 1,185 starts. He was able to hit .301 with a .957 OPS. 244 of his 511 home runs were hit as a cleanup hitter.
He drove in 906 RBI in his illustrious career batting fourth. It is pretty cool to end this list with a guy who brought so much production to this particular spot in the lineup card.
