(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Los Angeles Angels slugger Shohei Ohtani comfortably leads MLB in home runs this season with 35.
He is on an impressive pace and could potentially challenge the 62 long balls Aaron Judge hit last year.
Ohtani has five more home runs than the second-place hitter in baseball, Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson.
However, if we start counting since the 2022 All-Star break, we will find a few surprises.
“Most MLB home runs since the 2022 All-Star Game: Matt Olson, 51; Aaron Judge, 50; Shohei Ohtani, 50,” Codify Baseball tweeted.
Most MLB home runs since the 2022 All-Star Game:
Matt Olson, 51
Aaron Judge, 50
Shohei Ohtani, 50pic.twitter.com/bAas8Wj0y7
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) July 20, 2023
Since play resumed after the All-Star Game last year until this point, Olson has hit 51 home runs to top the league above Ohtani and Judge, who have 50.
Let’s recall that while Ohtani went bananas in 2021 with 46 round-trippers, his output last year was 34.
Judge has done very well to be on that list even while missing about two months worth of games with hip and toe injuries in 2023.
However, if you ask people who is leading the league in homers since the 2022 All-Star break, just a handful of them would get the correct answer.
Olson is not as flashy as Judge or Ohtani, but he gets the job done.
The owner of a .255/.362/.565 line, 30 home runs, and 77 RBI to this point, Olson has been a very worthy Freddie Freeman replacement for Atlanta since last year.
If you combine his last three seasons, the lefty-hitting slugger has hit 103 home runs, an impressive power output that puts him among the most dangerous sluggers in MLB.
He is really good, and doesn’t get the recognition he deserves.
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