In 1925, Hall of Famer Gabby Hartnett became the first player ever to position himself behind the dish for at least half his games and reach the 20-homer plateau, knocking the ball around for 24 four-baggers. Seemingly empowered by the feat, Hartnett then significantly raised the bar in 1930, producing 37 round-trippers. That mark stood unmatched until 1953, when Hall of Famer Roy Campanella cracked 41 home runs. The Dodgers’ great owned the high number for 17 years, until Hall of Famer Johnny Bench elevated the structures of possibility with 45 in 1970. And there things stood for a good long time, Bench having preeminence for a half-century before Salvador Perez powered past with his 48 in 2021. Now, a new number has been inserted for those who, despite playing at least 50% of their games at the position, have conjured enough stamina to stand at the plate and give a lot of balls a long ride.
Cal Raleigh homered twice to establish a new benchmark for the most home runs in a season by a catcher (at least 50% of games behind the plate). With the Mariners’ backstop surpassing Kansas City’s Salvador Perez and his 48 bombs from 2021, the list below offers the top marks for every position in both leagues (using the 50+% games parameter), with the overall leader on top.
AL Catchers: Cal Raleigh (49 in 2025)
NL Catchers: Johnny Bench (45 in 1970)
NL First Basemen: Mark McGwire (70 in 1998)
AL First Basemen: Jimmie Foxx (58 in 1932), Hank Greenberg (58 in 1938)
AL Second Basemen: Marcus Semien (45 in 2021)
NL Second Basemen: Davey Johnson (43 in 1973)
AL Third Basemen: Álex Rodríguez (54 in 2007)
NL Third Basemen: Eugenio Suárez (49 in 2019)
AL Shortstops: Álex Rodríguez (57 in 2002)
NL Shortstops: Ernie Banks (47 in 1958)
NL Left Fielders: Barry Bonds (73 in 2001)
AL Left Fielders: Babe Ruth (59 in 1921)
AL Center Fielders: Aaron Judge (62 in 2022)
NL Center Fielders: Hack Wilson (56 in 1930)
NL Right Fielders: Sammy Sosa (66 in 1998)
AL Right Fielders: Roger Maris (61 in 1961)
AL/NL DHs: David Ortiz (54 in 2006)/Shohei Ohtani (54 in 2024)
AL Pitchers: Wes Ferrell (9 in 1931)
NL Pitchers: Jack Stivetts (8 in 1894)
~Raleigh’s historic Sunday marked the ninth time this season he’s produced a multi-homer game, which leaves him two shy of tying the Major League record set by Hank Greenberg in 1938 and later matched by Sammy Sosa in 1998 and Aaron Judge in 2022. His nine – which is tied for the 12th most overall – is the most for any switch-hitter, eclipsing the eight by Mickey Mantle in 1961.
Shohei Ohtani hit his 45th home run – one can go in many directions off this simple statement.
~Ohtani currently leads the Majors with 307 total bases, a year after posting 411 to tie for the 16th most in history. He’s had at least 300 in every season since 2021, the only player in the Majors who can make this claim (no one else by season’s end will be able to join him in this statement).
~With his day, Ohtani lifted his MLB-leading tally for runs to 122. The last player to be at this number or a better one through 131 team games: Ellis Burks, who scored 123 in 1996. Burks and Ohtani are the only two players in the Expansion Era to get to 122 through 131 games, with Ted Williams (130 in 1949) being the most recent before them.
~Ohtani is now tied with the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber for the NL lead with the 45 homers. With these two and Cal Raleigh (and his 49), the 2025 season claims three representatives among the 28 ever who’ve hit at least 45 through 131 team games. The only other season with three reps – 2001 (Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Luis Gonzalez)
Most HR Through 131 Team Games
56 Barry Bonds (2001)
55 Sammy Sosa (1999)
53 Babe Ruth (1921), Mark McGwire (1998)
52 Sammy Sosa (2001)
51 Roger Maris (1961), Sammy Sosa (1998), Mark McGwire (1999), Giancarlo Stanton (2017), Aaron Judge (2022, 2024)
49 Luis Gonzalez (2001), Cal Raleigh (2025)
48 Jimmie Foxx (1932), Ryan Howard (2006)
47 Babe Ruth (1928), Mickey Mantle (1956), Álex Rodríguez (2002), David Ortiz (2006), Chris Davis (2013)
46 Hack Wilson (1930), Hank Greenberg (1938), Mickey Mantle (1961)
45 Babe Ruth (1920), Johnny Mize (1947), Reggie Jackson (1969), Kyle Schwarber (2025), Shohei Ohtani (2025)
Freddie Freeman launched a pair of home runs on Sunday – a little extra pop for the NL’s current batting leader (he’s hitting .302). For the season, Freeman holds a 143 OPS+, just a stitch above his career mark of 142. Freeman is one of just 54 players ever to accumulate at least 9,000 plate appearances through an age-35 season. An arrangement from highest to lowest OPS+ at this age-stage of each player’s career among this 54 finds Freeman occupying the 20th slot, in between Eddie Collins/Eddie Mathews/Ken Griffey, Jr. (at 144) and Eddie Murray/Rickey Henderson (at 138). Murray – one of seven players ever with at least 3,000 hits, 500 doubles and 500 home runs – and Freeman continue to issue a very similarly shaped and sized footprint
Eddie Murray and Freddie Freeman Through Their Age-35 Seasons
| Player | PA | Hits | 2B | HR | XBH | TB | RBI | Slash | OPS | OPS+ |
| Murray | 9,764 | 2,502 | 425 | 398 | 853 | 4,181 | 1,469 | .292/.369/.488 | .857 | 138 |
| Freeman | 9,238 | 2,401 | 540 | 361 | 933 | 4,088 | 1,307 | .300/.387/.511 | .898 | 142 |
Trent Grisham and Jazz Chisholm, Jr. posted multi-homer efforts as the Yankees defeated the Red Sox.
~Grisham has four multi-homer games this season, with this latest the third to come while batting leadoff. Bobby Bonds (1975) and Alfonso Soriano (2002) share honors for the most multi-longball efforts out of the top spot in a Yankees season, with four apiece. Brett Gardner (2017) and Aaron Judge (2022) had three, like Grisham.
~With this powerful night, Chisholm, Jr. has hit 16 of his 24 home runs at Yankee Stadium. In the Yankee Stadium(s) era (since 1923), there have been 15 Bronx Bombers to have at least two dozen home runs for a season and see at least two-thirds of them come at home. Unsurprisingly, 12 of the 15, including Chisholm and Cody Bellinger (from this year as well), are left-handed hitters.
LH Hitters: Bill Dickey (1937, 1938, 1939), Charlie Keller (1943), Tommy Henrich (1949), Yogi Berra (1955, 1957), Johnny Damon (2009), Robinson Canó (2012), Didi Gregorius (2018), Jazz Chisholm, Jr. (2025), Cody Bellinger (2025)
RH Hitters: Aaron Judge (2018), DJ LeMahieu (2019), Gleyber Torres (2022)
Making his 50th career start, Paul Skenes twirled seven scoreless frames to lower his career ERA to 2.02. In the Liveball Era, the Pirates’ right-hander is one of 933 pitchers to have tallied at least 250.0 innings through his first 50 games; arranged from lowest to highest ERA, this 23-year-old, two-time All-Star is at the very top.
1920-2025: Lowest ERA Through First 50 Games (minimum 250.0 IP)
2.02 Paul Skenes (2024-2025)
2.27 Dwight Gooden (1984-1985)
2.31 Vida Blue (1969-1971)
2.34 Fernando Valenzuela (1980-1982)
2.38 Elmer Riddle (1939-1942)
2.40 Harry Brecheen (1940-1944)
2.40 Bill Singer (1964-1968)
2.40 Jerry Koosman (1967-1969)
2.41 Ewell Blackwell (1942-1947)
2.42 Howie Pollet (1941-1943)
2.42 Gary Nolan (1967-1968)
Junior Caminero’s grand slam propelled the Rays to a win and elevated the third baseman’s stature among the young power hitters in baseball history. With this longball, his 37th of the season, the 2025 All-Star tied Albert Pujols (2001) for the sixth most home runs ever for any player in an age-21 or younger campaign. Curiously, all five still ahead did their work in the NL: Eddie Mathews (47) for the 1953 Braves; Mel Ott (42) for the 1929 Giants; Ronald Acuña, Jr. (41) for the 2019 Braves; Cody Bellinger (39) for the 2017 Dodgers; and Frank Robinson (38) for the 1956 Reds. The top mark for any AL player – before Caminero established this new high – had been set when Álex Rodríguez hit 36 for the 1996 Mariners.
Tampa Bay’s Chandler Simpson chipped in with a pair of hits, two RBI and a steal on Sunday, lifting the rookie’s line for the year to 38 stolen bases and a .307 average. Three players in the Modern Era have completed a debut season with at least 40 steals and a .300 mark, with Mitchell Page’s extraordinary 1977 campaign the first example of this, when the Athletics’ outfielder had 42 thefts to accompany a .307/.405/.521 line. In 1990, Alex Cole hit .300 with 40 steals and in 2001, Ichiro Suzuki won the batting crown with a .350 average while swiping an AL-best 56 bags.
Trevor Rogers gave up a run over seven innings and improved to 7-2 with a 1.40 ERA in his 13 starts this season. The effort to open a campaign is, by ERA, among the best any St. Louis Brown/Baltimore Oriole has sculpted in the Liveball Era.
Browns/Orioles: 1920-2025: Lowest ERA in First 13 Games of Year, Minimum 80.0 IP
1959 Hoyt Wilhelm opens with a 1.39 ERA in 97.0 IP
2025 Trevor Rogers opens with a 1.40 ERA in 83.1 IP
1975 Jim Palmer opens with a 1.55 ERA in 110.1 IP
1984 Storm Davis opens with a 1.75 ERA in 82.1 IP
1965 Milt Pappas opens with a 1.87 ERA in 91.1 IP
Ranger Suárez fanned a career-high 11 batters in a masterful seven scoreless innings elevated by no walks. The effort marked the 24th for a Phillies pitcher in the Modern Era to see the guy on the mound reach double-digits in K’s without surrendering a run or walk. The efforts are a little imbalanced from a lefty-righty perspective, with Suárez’s the ninth to come from a southpaw. Chris Short and Steve Calton each produced two, while Curt Simmons, Terry Mulholland, Sid Fernandez and Cliff Lee each posted one.
Jakob Marsee tripled, doubled and drove three runs to hoist the Marlins to a win on Sunday; the 24-year-old now has 23 RBI and 17 extra-base hits in his first 23 games, with this level of production a rare sight.
1901-2025: Players with 23+ RBI, 17+ XBH Through Their First 23 Career Games
1925 Mandy Brooks with 31 RBI & 21 XBH
1936 Joe DiMaggio with 26 RBI & 19 XBH
2019 Will Smith with 26 RBI & 17 XBH
2019 Yordan Alvarez with 29 RBI & 17 XBH
2025 Jakob Marsee with 23 RBI & 17 XBH
Corbin Carroll swiped two bags to get to 20 for the year and notch his third consecutive 20-homer, 20-steal campaign. Just a few days past his 25th birthday, those three already give the outfielder as many of these seasons as any Diamondback has ever produced, with Chris Young also having three.
~Carroll’s career line shows 205 extra-base hits to go along with 111 steals. He joins 21 others whose debut came in the Modern Era and who, through their respective age-24 seasons, had at least 200 and 100. Carroll is one of three on this list who debuted during the 2022 season, joining Bobby Witt, Jr. and Julio Rodríguez. When all 22 of these players are organized by debut season, only other campaign witnesses multiple players emerge: 1996, thanks to Andruw Jones and Édgar Rentería.
Thanks to Baseball Reference and its extraordinary research database, Stathead, for help in assembling this piece.
Roger Schlueter
As Sr. Editorial Director for Major League Baseball Productions from 2004-2015, Roger served as a hub for hundreds of hours of films, series, documentaries and features: as researcher, fact-checker, script doctor, and developer of ideas. The years at MLB Production gave him the ideal platform to pursue what galvanized him the most – the idea that so much of what takes place on the field during the MLB regular and postseason (and is forever beautifully condensed into a box score) has connections to what has come before. Unearthing and celebrating these webs allows baseball to thrive, for the present can come alive and also reignite the past.