Tallest MLB Players Ever: The Complete Height Rankings

Baseball has never had a 7-footer. That’s the strange thing about a sport where size is supposed to be everything — the NBA has had dozens of players taller than 7’0″, but in nearly 150 years of major league baseball, nobody has ever cracked that mark. The average big leaguer stands around 6’2″, and anything above 6’8″ is genuinely rare air.

But the game has produced a handful of true giants — men who had to duck through dugout tunnels, who turned a pitching mound into a cliff, and who made All-Stars look small standing next to them. One of them threw a perfect game at age 40. One went on to run an entire franchise. One played in the NBA before he ever threw a big-league pitch. And at the very top of the list, two men share the all-time record — one long retired, and one who is still pitching right now.

So who are the tallest players in MLB history? The full rankings are below — every member of the 6’10”-and-over club, the giants just behind them, the tallest position players ever, the height records that came with them, and the one man taller than everyone on the list who never got his shot.

Updated 2026

Contents

Tallest MLB Players Ever: The Complete Rankings
Why pitchers own this list
The bottom line

Tallest MLB Players Ever: The Complete Rankings

Every 6’10″+ player in history, the 6’8″–6’9″ club, the tallest position players, height records, and the giants who never made it.

The 6’10”-and-over club

Every player in MLB history listed at 6’10” or taller — all seven are pitchers

Height	Player	Pos	Career	Teams	The Story
6’11”	Jon Rauch Tallest ever	P	2002–2013	White Sox, Nationals, Twins, others	Co-record holder. 2000 Olympic gold medalist; tallest player ever to hit a home run (2004); 11-year career as a reliever.
6’11”	Sean Hjelle Tallest ever	P	2022–present	San Francisco Giants	Co-record holder and the tallest active player in MLB. Tied the all-time mark when he debuted in 2022 out of Kentucky.
6’10”	Randy Johnson Hall of Fame	P	1988–2009	Mariners, D-backs, others	The greatest tall player ever: Hall of Famer, 5 Cy Youngs, 4,875 strikeouts, 303 wins, 2001 World Series co-MVP, and a perfect game at age 40.
6’10”	Eric Hillman	P	1992–1994	New York Mets	Lefty who briefly held the all-time record before Rauch. Took his career to Japan after three MLB seasons.
6’10”	Chris Young	P	2004–2017	Padres, Royals, others	Princeton grad, 2007 All-Star, 2015 World Series champion with Kansas City — and later the executive who ran the Texas Rangers to the 2023 title.
6’10”	Andy Sisco	P	2005–2007	Royals, White Sox	Towering lefty reliever drafted out of high school by the Cubs; carved out three big-league seasons in the mid-2000s.
6’10”	Aaron Slegers	P	2017–2021	Twins, Rays, Angels	The most recent member of the 6’10” club; bounced between rotations and bullpens before retiring.

The 7-foot drought: No player 7’0″ or taller has ever appeared in a major league game. The average MLB player stands about 6’2″ — meaning the men above tower 8–9 inches over a typical big leaguer.

The 6’8″–6’9″ club (selected)

The giants one rung below the record — still all pitchers

Height	Player	Pos	Career	The Story
6’9″	Mark Hendrickson	P	2002–2011	Played 4 NBA seasons (76ers, Kings, Nets, Cavs) before switching to baseball full-time — one of the few true two-sport giants.
6’9″	Bailey Ober	P	2021–present	Minnesota’s towering right-hander; one of the tallest starters in today’s game.
6’9″	Alex Meyer	P	2015–2017	First-round pick whose promising career was cut short by shoulder injuries.
6’8″	Tyler Glasnow	P	2016–present	The Dodgers’ ace-level righty; uses his height for one of the steepest downhill fastballs in baseball.
6’8″	Dellin Betances	P	2011–2021	Four-time All-Star and one of the most dominant relievers of the 2010s with the Yankees.
6’8″	Chris Martin	P	2014–present	Well-traveled, ultra-reliable setup man with elite control.
6’8″	Tayron Guerrero	P	2016–2019	Colombian flamethrower who regularly touched triple digits; the tallest foreign-born player in MLB history.
6’8″	Doug Fister	P	2009–2018	Made the most of his frame with sink and command; key arm on Detroit’s early-2010s playoff teams.
6’8″	Luke Little	P	2023–present	Cubs lefty and one of the youngest members of the 6’8″ club.

Tallest position players ever

Pitchers dominate the all-time list — these are the tallest men to do it with a bat

Height	Player	Pos	Career	The Story
6’8″	Tony Clark	1B	1995–2009	The tallest position player in MLB history; All-Star slugger who later became executive director of the MLB Players Association.
6’8″	Richie Sexson	1B	1997–2008	Two-time All-Star with 306 career home runs; shares the position-player height record.
6’8″	Nate Freiman	1B	2013–2014	Briefly matched the record with Oakland; one of the tallest hitters ever to step in a big-league box.
6’7″	Aaron Judge	OF	2016–present	The tallest superstar hitter ever — multiple MVP awards and the AL single-season home run record (62).
6’7″	Frank Howard	OF/1B	1958–1973	“Hondo” hit 382 career homers and was the game’s most feared giant of the 1960s.
6’7″	Oneil Cruz	SS/OF	2021–present	The tallest player ever to man shortstop regularly — a position historically reserved for the smallest men on the field.

Tallest active players (2026)

The current giants of the big leagues

Height	Player	Pos	Team / Role	Note
6’11”	Sean Hjelle	P	San Francisco Giants	The tallest active player and co-holder of the all-time record.
6’9″	Bailey Ober	P	Minnesota Twins	One of the tallest starting pitchers in the game.
6’8″	Tyler Glasnow	P	Los Angeles Dodgers	Frontline starter with an extreme release height.
6’8″	Chris Martin	P	Reliever	Veteran late-inning arm.
6’8″	Luke Little	P	Chicago Cubs	Hard-throwing young lefty.
6’7″	Aaron Judge	OF	New York Yankees	The tallest position player in today’s game.
6’7″	Oneil Cruz	SS/OF	Pittsburgh Pirates	Baseball’s tallest-ever regular shortstop.

Height records & firsts

The marks that define baseball’s upper limit

Record	Holder	Detail
Tallest players ever	Jon Rauch & Sean Hjelle — 6’11”	Set in 2002; tied in 2022, twenty years apart
Tallest player never to reach MLB	Loek van Mil — 7’1″	Dutch pitcher who topped out at Triple-A and in Japan; the tallest professional baseball player ever
Tallest Hall of Famer	Randy Johnson — 6’10”	Also the tallest 300-game winner, Cy Young winner, and perfect-game pitcher
Tallest player to hit a home run	Jon Rauch — 6’11”	Went deep in 2004 — his only career homer
Tallest position player	Tony Clark, Richie Sexson, Nate Freiman — 6’8″	Three-way tie among first basemen
Tallest regular shortstop	Oneil Cruz — 6’7″	Unprecedented size at baseball’s most demanding position
Tallest foreign-born player	Tayron Guerrero — 6’8″	Colombian reliever, 2016–2019
Tallest two-sport player	Mark Hendrickson — 6’9″	Four NBA seasons before a decade in MLB
Average MLB height	~6’2″	For context: every player on this chart is at least half a foot above average

Heights per official listed measurements (Baseball-Reference). Listed heights can differ slightly from true measurements. Updated 2026 — Legion Report

Why pitchers own this list

If you scanned the chart and noticed a pattern, you’re not wrong — nearly everyone at the top is a pitcher, and that’s no accident. Extreme height is a weapon on the mound: a taller release point creates a steeper downhill angle, and a longer stride releases the ball closer to the plate, making every fastball play faster than the radar gun says. For hitters, the same height becomes a liability — a 6’10” frame means an enormous strike zone and long levers that are hard to keep quick. That’s why the tallest everyday position players in history top out around 6’8″, a full three inches below the all-time mark.

The bottom line

The 7-foot barrier remains baseball’s last unclaimed frontier. The man who came closest never escaped the minor leagues, and the two record-holders at 6’11” got there a full two decades apart — proof of how rarely players this size reach the majors at all, let alone stick. With one of the two still active and taking the mound every season, the record has a living face. But until someone walks to a big-league mound at a full 7’0″, the names in the chart above own the high ground in baseball history.

— Legion Report