Here are the players on each American League team who are expected to get the most plate appearances on their club at designated hitter ranked from best to worst. As a subjective list, many of the players can almost be considered interchangeable with others as to where they should be ranked.

To see the rankings for projected starting American League right fielders, click here. For National League, click here.

1. Giancarlo Stanton - New York Yankees

  • 2017 stats: 692 PA, .281 BA, 1.007 Ops, 59 HR, 32 2B, 0 3B, 132 RBI, 123 R, 2 SB

Stanton is coming off a magical 2017 season where he nearly hit 60 Home Runs and took home the National League MVP.

Joining a potent Yankees lineup, he may see even more good pitches to hit than he did with the Marlins. He played right field very well last season so it's somewhat of a shame he will often be relegated to just hitting.

2. J.D. Martinez - Boston Red Sox

  • 2017 stats: 489 PA, .303 BA, 1.066 OPS, 45 HR, 26 2B, 3 3B, 104 RBI, 85 R, 4 SB

Martinez has been a superb hitter since the 2014 season, but his career took new heights after he was traded to the Diamondbacks last year. In 257 plate appearances with Arizona, he hit .302 with a 1.107 OPS and 29 home runs. Expect a lot of balls to either fly over or put dents in the Green Monster this year off of his bat.

3. Nelson Cruz - Seattle Mariners

  • 2017 stats: 645 PA, .288 BA, .924 OPS, 39 HR, 28 2B, 0 3B, 119 RBI, 91 R, 1 SB

Cruz is still going strong despite his advanced age of 37 (turns 38 on July 1).

He led the American League in RBIs in 2017, won his second Silver Slugger, finished 10th in American League MVP voting, and hit at least 39 home runs for the fourth straight season. He has a .292 batting average and .925 OPS in his three years with the Mariners.

4. Edwin Encarnacion - Cleveland Indians

  • 2017 stats: 669 PA, .258 BA, .881 OPS, 38 HR, 20 2B, 1 3B, 107 RBI, 96 R, 2 SB

The 35-year-old Encarnacion continues to be one of the game's best power hitters as he has knocked 231 balls out of the park since 2012.

It was still a very strong season for him in 2017 despite his batting average and OPS being his lowest since 2010 and 2011 respectively.

5. Khris Davis - Oakland Athletics

  • 2017 stats: 652 PA, .247 BA, .864 OPS, 43 HR, 28 2B, 1 3B, 110 RBI, 94 R, 4 SB

In an odd stat, Davis has finished with a .247 batting average in each of the last three seasons.

He hit .244 the year before that so the Athletics are pretty much aware what to expect in that category. "Khrush" has hit 85 home runs and driven in 212 runs in his two years with Oakland. He struck out a ton last year (195 times), but also walked 73 times leading to a respectable .336 on-base percentage.

6. Logan Morrison - Minnesota Twins

  • 2017 stats: 601 PA, .246 BA, .868 OPS, 38 HR, 22 2B, 1 3B, 85 RBI, 75 R, 2 SB

Entering 2017 with 70 homers in 2,355 career plate appearances, Morrison was just another surprising power source in a year of many. He finished with an .868 OPS, a major improvement over the .712 he compiled from 2012-16. He also walked 81 times last season easily surpassing his previous career-high of 54.

7. Evan Gattis - Houston Astros

  • 2017 stats: 325 PA, .263 BA, .767 OPS, 12 HR, 22 2B, 0 3B, 55 RBI, 41 R, 0 SB

While Gattis' 22 doubles were actually the most in his five seasons, his 12 homers were by far his lowest as he never hit less than 21 prior to last season. He has started 96 games at catcher the last two years, but most of his work is likely to come as the designated hitter this year with Max Stassi taking backup catcher duties.

8. Shin-Soo Choo - Texas Rangers

  • 2017 stats: 636 PA, .261 BA, .780 OPS, 22 HR, 20 2B, 1 3B, 78 RBI, 96 R, 12 SB

Choo has been a decent batting average, high on-base percentage player for much of the latter part of his career. Turning 36 on July 13, he will continue to play less in the field but is still a threat to swipe a bag.

9. Mark Trumbo - Baltimore Orioles

  • 2017 stats: 603 PA, .234 BA, .686 OPS, 23 HR, 22 2B, 0 3B, 65 RBI, 79 R

Trumbo saw his long balls cut in half from his American League-leading 47 in 2016. He hit just .202 with a .600 OPS after the All-Star break last season. He will most likely miss at a least couple weeks to start the season with a quadriceps strain.

10. Kendrys Morales - Toronto Blue Jays

  • 2017 stats: 608 PA, .250 BA, .753 OPS, 28 HR, 25 2B, 0 3B, 85 RBI, 67 R, 0 SB

Morales has hit at least 22 home runs in five of his last six seasons. Turning 35 on June 20, he struck out a career-high 132 times in 2017. While not a great season in 2017, it was just 2015 when he hit .290 with a .847 OPS and won a Silver Slugger.

11. Albert Pujols - Los Angeles Angels

  • 2017 stats: 636 PA, .241 BA, .672 OPS, 23 HR, 17 2B, 0 3B, 101 RBI, 53 R, 3 SB

Yes he drove in 101 runs, but 2017 was not a good season for the future Hall of Famer. After hitting .328 with a 1.037 OPS in 11 seasons with the Cardinals, Pujols has a .262 batting average and .777 OPS in six years with the Angels. A player who averaged 107 walks from 2008-10 walked just 39 times last year.

12. Victor Martinez - Detroit Tigers

  • 2017 stats: 435 PA, .255 BA, .697 OPS, 10 HR, 16 2B, 0 3B, 47 RBI, 38 R, 0 SB

It wasn’t too long ago in 2014 that Martinez was a monster at the plate and finished second in American League MVP voting. Now 39 years old, he has gone through two subpar seasons in the past three years.

While his odds of duplicating 2014 aren’t very good, he did hit .289 with 27 homers in 2016.

13. Brad Miller - Tampa Bay Rays

  • 2017 stats: 407 PA, .201 BA, .664 OPS, 9 HR, 13 2B, 3 3B, 40 RBI, 43 R, 5 SB

After a surprising 30-home run season in 2016, Miller didn’t even crack double-digits last year. He barely hit over the Mendoza line, but 63 walks helped him to reach a respectable .327 on-base percentage on the year.

14. Jorge Soler - Kansas City Royals

  • 2017 stats: 110 PA, .144 BA, .503 OPS, 2 HR, 5 2B, 0 3B, 6 RBI, 7 R, 0 SB

Soler was expected to play a large role last season after he was acquired from the Cubs in exchange for Wade Davis. Instead, he was awful at the plate and spent most of the year in AAA.

He hit .267 there with a .952 OPS so the Royals will give him another chance at an everyday role.

15. Matt Davidson - Chicago White Sox

  • 2017 stats: 443 PA, .220 BA, .711 OPS, 26 HR, 16 2B, 1 3B, 68 RBI, 43 R, 0 SB

Davidson received ample playing time in 2017 after appearing in just one game for the White Sox in 2016. He connected on 26 long balls but walked just 19 times compared to striking out 165 times.