It still might be a pitcher’s game in today’s MLB, but there is no shortage of power. In fact, thanks to Cal Raleigh, Kyle Schwarber, Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, the 2025 season is just the third time in league history that four players have hit at least 50 homers.
Four players is the most to hit at least 50 long balls in a season. Just 34 players have hit 50 homers in a season, with 11 of those managing the feat at least twice in their career, but on three occasions now, four of those players clustered together to make history.
Raleigh, the Mariners‘ catcher and an MVP candidate, has hit 60 home runs, only the seventh player to reach that feat in MLB history. He also has the most homers in a season by a switch-hitter, as well as the MLB record for homers by a catcher.
Schwarber’s 56 home runs represent the first time the slugger has crossed the 50-homer threshold and the Phillies‘ outfielder is chasing Ryan Howard’s franchise-record of 58 home runs. Ohtani’s 53 home runs mark the second time that he’s hit at least 50 in a season; he became the first player with 50 home runs and 50 batters struck out in a single season on Sept. 16.
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And Judge, in a season in which he already moved into fourth-place all-time on the Yankees‘ career home run list and became the fastest to 350 career homers, has also gone yard 51 times. It’s the fourth time that Judge has achieved this, tied for the all-time lead with Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.
The first instance was in 1998, when Greg Vaughn hit 50 home runs for the National League champion Padres, Ken Griffey Jr. tied his own franchise record of 56 homers with the Mariners, Sosa went yard 66 times with the Cubs and McGwire set a then-MLB single-season record with 70 dingers. In 2001, Alex Rodriguez smashed 52 homers for the Rangers, Luis Gonzalez powered the World Champion Diamondbacks with 57 homers, Sosa had 64 and Barry Bonds broke McGwire’s record with 73 dingers of his own.
It is possible that the 2025 season will feature a first-time fifth player to reach the 50-homer threshold. Raleigh’s teammate Eugenio Suárez has 48 home runs with four games to go in the Mariners’ regular season.
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