Top 10 MLB Players – May 2019

Jun 17, 2019 | Athlete Spotlights

Top MLB Players With the Highest Social Interactions Among Fans

As calendars change from May to June, MLB sees its first trimester come to an end. The end of the season’s first third brings a lot of familiar names to the top ten players by social media interactions. Four of May’s top players maintained their top ten ranking from April. An additional four returned from March’s top ten after missing April, including new number one Justin Turner.

Note: All data from Hookit Engagement rankings on June 10th, 2019. Data is updated consistently to reflect live rankings on the Hookit Rankings website.

Justin Turner, Los Angeles Dodgers Third Baseman, Finishes May in First

Justin Turner, March’s number 4 finisher, surged to the top spot after narrowly missing the top ten last month. His most popular post in May, with 34k interactions, is a video of one of three home runs he hit in the Dodgers’ May 7th matchup against the Atlanta Braves. Turner shared more than just on-field highlights with his followers. On Memorial Day, Turner posted a video thanking military members and announcing he’d be giving away signed baseballs to select military in attendance for the Dodgers’ May 27th game. Turner also, along with 9 teammates, took part in the #CrackCancer challenge to raise awareness for pediatric brain cancer in support of The Willie Strong Foundation.

CC Sabathia, New York Yankees Starting Pitcher, Jumps to Sixth

CC Sabathia kept himself very busy in May while promoting and hosting his second annual CC Sabathia & Friends Celebrity Softball Game to benefit his own PitCCh In Foundation. Leading up to the game on May 16th, Sabathia made the media rounds, appearing on Good Day New York, Jalen & Jacoby, The Breakfast Club, Ebro in the Morning, and Strahan and Sara. On the 18th, Sabathia shared a highlight video from the game which garnered 46k views and 13k likes. After all his hard work in the first half of the month, Sabathia gave himself a break from social media following that May 18th post, not posting anything else the rest of the month.

Corey Seager, Los Angeles Dodgers Shortstop, Returns in Ninth

Corey Seager is not one for high social media usage, with a lightly used Instagram account, an even more lightly used Twitter, and no Facebook. He missed the April top ten because he didn’t post the entire month across all platforms. When he does use social media, it makes a big impact. In May, one Instagram post is all it took for Seager to find himself ninth in MLB player social media interactions. His Mother’s Day post on May 12th earned nearly 85k combined likes and comments. Seager made it an extra special Mother’s Day for his mom, hitting a grand slam in the Dodgers’ 6-0 victory over the Washington Nationals.

The Wrap Up

Now that we’re two months into the MLB season, the top ten seem to have found its equilibrium. May brought only two brand new names to the top ten, and neither are surprises as both CC Sabathia and Javier Baez are bonafide stars. April’s biggest surprise, Tim Anderson, showed his rapid gain wasn’t a fluke while maintaining a top three placement.

Note: All data is from official Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram Business accounts. Any personal Instagram account data is not included in these rankings.

Written by David Shevlin

David currently works as a Technical Product Expert with Hookit. He previously worked in the baseball industry, spending a year with Baseball Info Solutions and two years with the Chicago White Sox. He spends his free time playing and coaching volleyball, playing board games, discovering new music, and watching baseball, basketball, and golf.

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