Over the first month of the 2025 season, we¡¯ve seen an interesting trend in the home run rankings.
Reigning American League MVP and MLB home run champion Aaron Judge is off to a sensational start at the plate, hitting over .400 with seven homers on the young campaign. Other prominent names are off to a strong start in the slugging department, too, including Shohei Ohtani and Pete Alonso.
But consider some of the names with at least as many homers as Judge. Ohtani? No. Alonso? Nope. Bryce Harper, perhaps? Also no.
How about Tyler Soderstrom and Tommy Edman?
With the early power surge from some lesser-known names in the game, it¡¯s a great time to look back at some of the most surprising single-season home run leaders in baseball history. Here are 10 of them going back to the beginning of the Live Ball Era in 1920:
Salvador Perez, 2021 (tied for MLB lead)
Entering his age-31 campaign in 2021, Perez had never hit more than 27 home runs in a single season. That¡¯s certainly strong output, but he took the slugging to another level, belting 48 of them to tie for the MLB lead with Blue Jays superstar slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Since then, Perez has returned to his career norm in the home run department, averaging 24 per season from 2022-24.
Luke Voit, 2020 (led MLB)
In a pandemic-shortened 60-game season, Voit averaged a homer every 10 at-bats to lead everyone -- including teammate Aaron Judge, considered the greatest home run hitter in the game today -- with 22, which had him on pace for over 60 in a 162-game season.
Voit hit 21 homers the prior season in more than double the amount of at-bats. He hit 22 homers again for the Yankees in 2022, but never eclipsed that figure.
Jorge Soler, 2019 (led AL)
Soler was a top prospect in the Cubs organization, and there was big power potential in his bat that never materialized in Chicago. But following a trade to Kansas City and an injury-plagued first two seasons with the Royals, Soler broke out with a huge season in 2019.
After having never hit more than 12 homers in a single season, he smashed 48 to lead the American League. He has since become a formidable presence at the plate, especially after taking home World Series MVP honors with the Braves in 2021, and hitting 57 homers from 2023-24.
Mark Trumbo, 2016 (led MLB)
Trumbo hit 95 homers from 2011-13, but he was then traded from the Angels to the D-backs. He struggled with Arizona, and midway through the 2015 campaign, he was dealt to the Mariners. From 2014-15, he hit a combined 36 home runs.
But after being traded for the third time within a two-year span, this time to the Orioles, Trumbo erupted for an MLB-best 47 homers in 2016. He earned his second career All-Star selection and a Silver Slugger Award with the prodigious performance.
Troy Glaus, 2000 (led AL)
The 2000 season was Glaus¡¯ second full Major League campaign. And while he was productive in 1999, when he hit 29 home runs with a .781 OPS for the Angels, no one expected him to dwarf that figure and lead the league in homers the next year.
But that¡¯s what he did, outhomering luminaries such as Hall of Fame sluggers Vladimir Guerrero and Frank Thomas in the process. Glaus finished with 320 home runs over a 13-year MLB career.
Kevin Mitchell, 1989 (led MLB)
As a rookie in 1986, Mitchell helped the Mets win the World Series. He was traded to the Padres prior to the ¡¯87 campaign, and then traded again midway through that season to the Giants. He belted 22 homers that season, but it all came together two years later.
That¡¯s when Mitchell put together one of the greatest offensive performances in Giants history, launching an MLB-leading 47 home runs to go along with a 1.023 OPS (192 OPS+) to win the NL MVP Award and help San Francisco win its first pennant in 27 years. Injuries plagued him throughout the rest of his career, though when healthy, he was still very productive -- with the Reds in 1994, he belted 30 homers in just 310 at-bats.
Ben Oglivie, 1980 (led AL)
Entering the 1980 season, Oglivie had averaged a home run every 26 at-bats during his nine-year Major League career. But in ¡¯80, he had a breakout campaign for the Brewers in which he led the league with 41 homers -- averaging one every 14 at-bats.
Oglivie had one more big season in the power department, connecting for 34 home runs in 1982 while helping Milwaukee reach the World Series, and he finished with 235 for his career.
Roy Sievers, 1957 (led AL)
If you were asked at the dawn of the 1957 season who would win the AL home run crown, your answer probably would have featured Mickey Mantle or Ted Williams. But neither legend led the league in homers that year -- it was none other than Sievers, an outfielder for the Washington Senators who had never hit more than 29 roundtrippers in a season.
Sievers¡¯ 42 home runs in 1957 not only bested Mantle and Williams, but also the likes of Willie Mays and Duke Snider. Sievers hit 39 homers the next season for Washington and finished with 318 over a 17-year Major League career.
Dolph Camilli, 1941 (led NL)
Like many others on this list, Camilli was definitely capable of hitting homers. It¡¯s just that from 1935-40, he averaged 26 of them per season, and then he slugged 34 for the Brooklyn Dodgers to lead the National League in 1941.
While that season was dominated by the exploits of Williams (.401 batting average) and Joe DiMaggio (56-game hitting streak), Camilli outhomered both of them.
Bob Meusel, 1925 (led AL)
Meusel? The AL home run champ? In 1925? Where was Babe Ruth?
The answer to that question is: ill for about the first two months of the season. Ruth slammed 25 homers in 98 games for the Yankees, but it was Meusel, his teammate with the Bronx Bombers, who led the team -- and the league -- with 33 that season. Meusel hit a combined 21 from 1923-24, and never hit more than 12 in a season thereafter.