Every MLB player who hit 30 home runs in their rookie season

No, this is not an alphabetical list. It will move up by number of home runs, and within a certain number, the hitters are listed temporally. That is to say, among the guys to hit exactly 30 homers as a rookie, Allison did it first. Playing for the Washington Senators, who became the Minnesota Twins during his 13-year career, Allison hit 30 homers in 1959. He was the AL Rookie of the Year and made his first of three All-Star Games.

Allison spent his entire career with one franchise. Montanez was a journeyman’s journeyman. He played for nine franchises, and because of a series of odd events, had his rookie season five years after his MLB debut. In 1971, playing for the Philadelphia Phillies, Montanez popped 30 playing in center field, a position known more for defensive play at the time.

Incaviglia made waves after the Montreal Expos drafted him eighth overall in 1985. He refused to play in the minors, and the Expos wouldn’t honor that, so he ended up being traded to the Rangers. The Rangers were willing to take a shot on Incaviglia, who debuted in 1986, having never played a day in the minors. When he hit 30 homers as a rookie, things looked promising, but perhaps a bit of seasoning in the minors would have helped. Incaviglia became a journeyman largely in part because he struck out a ton, leading MLB twice.

Nomar both panned out as a star player but somehow managed to feel like he fell short of expectations. It’s understandable. After all, as a shortstop, he hit 30 home runs as a rookie, winning AL Rookie of the Year in 1997. By 2000, he also had two AL batting titles to his name. Unfortunately, come 2001, Garciaparra started to be unable to overcome injuries, so much so he won the NL Comeback Player of the Year award in 2006 with the Dodgers. It seemed like he might have been a Hall of Famer, but he had to settle for being a Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame member.

As with Nomar, injuries are going to keep Trout from having the career we thought he would have. Of course, the difference is Trout was so amazing that he’s going to be in the Hall of Fame and will still go down as the best player of his generation. It’s just that now he won’t be, you know, on the level of Barry Bonds or Ken Griffey Jr. Trout both hit 30 home runs in 2012 and led the AL in steals. Yes, he won Rookie of the Year, but then the Angels legend would add three MVPs. Here’s hoping he stays healthy enough to get to 500 homers at least. Trout deserves that.

In hindsight, it’s easy to see why Vogelbach ended up being a journeyman with an unremarkable career. He was an unathletic masher who was relegated to DH pretty much from the get-go, and he was a lefty who struggled enough with southpaws he effectively had to be platooned. And yet! As a rookie with the Mariners in 2019 he hit 30 homers. That was the peak, though. When Vogelbach retired at the end of the 2024 season, he had a total of 81 MLB homers.

We kick off the 31-homer hitters with the player some would argue was the best hitter in history. Six batting titles, four homer titles, two triple crowns, and on and on. Williams was the last player to hit .400 in a season. The way the game has changed will likely remain the case forever. As a Red Sox rookie in 1939, Williams hit 31 of his 521 homers. He could have had more, but he took time off from his career not just to serve in World War II, but to serve in Korea as well.

Sorry to Hart, who has to follow in the footsteps of Williams solely because he was the next rookie to his 31 homers. Hart did so in 1964, though he probably would have used up his rookie eligibility in 1963 had he not had his shoulder broken and been concussed by being hit by a pitch on two separate occasions. While Hart was solid for the Giants, and made one All-Star Game, according to his teammate Willie Mays he had pretty serious alcohol issues. Also, he was by all accounts one of the worst defensive third basemen you ever did see, which didn’t help pad his resume.

Like Trout, Salmon was a career-long Angel, and he was the franchise’s all-time homer leader until Trout blew past him. He was the AL Rookie of the Year in 1993 and a key member of the Angels’ title team in 2002. Unsurprisingly, when Salmon retired, he became a part of the Angels’ local broadcast crew. That’s what guys like Salmon do.

The wheels came off pretty fast for Jimenez. He came out of the gate in 2019 for the White Sox by hitting 31 homers. The next season, the truncated 2020 campaign, he won a Silver Slugger. Then, it all started to deteriorate. By 2023, he was a replacement-level player. By 2025, he was signing a minor league deal to keep his career going.

Garcia had a cup of coffee with the Cardinals, who then designated him for assignment in 2019 and traded him to the Rangers for cash considerations. In hindsight, that might look bad, but it wasn’t egregious. When Garcia had his proper rookie season, in 2021, it was his age-28 campaign. How many 28-year-old rookies go on to do big things? Well, at least one. Garcia hit 31 homers in 2021 and was an all-star. In 2023, he was an all-star, won a Gold Glove, and set the record for RBI in a single postseason as the Rangers went on to win the World Series. Of course, the flip side of being a 28-year-old rookie is that he seems to already be on the downside of his career, and his skill set seems to be deteriorating quickly enough he may be out of the league before he’s 35.

Oliva is one of those committee-based Hall of Fame selections that people don’t really pay attention to, but he was an excellent player. He actually was more of a contact hitter than a power hitter. Oliva retired with a .304 average and three batting titles with the Twins, but he hit 220 homers total. As a rookie in 1964, though, the Cuban lefty managed to hit 32 home runs, which remained his career high.

After the fact, you can look back at a player’s career and say, “It peaked with their rookie season.” Of course, there is no way to know that in the moment, so Tigers’ fans were probably stoked for what they saw from Nokes in 1987. He hit 32 homers, was an all-star, and won a Silver Slugger. Oh, and he was a catcher to boot. That was the best it got, though, and Nokes ended up a journeyman with a perfectly mediocre career.

No, not the tall pitcher who became a front-office bigwig Chris Young. This Chris Young who started his career as an outfielder for the Diamondbacks. In 2006, Young wowed with 32 homers and 27 stolen bases. He also had a .295 OBP, which was an underlying warning sign that perhaps future stardom wasn’t in the mix. Now, Young had some other good seasons, including two more 20/20 campaigns. He had a pretty good career, but was not the kind of star that rookie season may have heralded.

We wonder how special Tony Oliva’s 32 homers as a rookie in 1964 felt for Twins fans at the time, given Hall hit 33 for the Twins in 1963. While Hall one-upped his teammate on that front, Oliva would end up with the better career by a wide margin. Lee made two All-Star Games, but was a journeyman whose career didn’t even last a full decade.

Catcher seems to be as tough a position to play defensively as there is in baseball, and it is certainly the most specialized. Williams was stuck as a backup at third and first for the Braves in 1971, and then the manager asked him, “Hey, wanna play catcher?” Williams agreed, and a guy who never played catcher a day in the minors won Rookie of the Year. Maybe not so much for his defense as for the fact that he hit 33 home runs while hitting .260. The other guy to get first-place votes that year? The aforementioned Willie Montanez.

Yes, Canseco is perhaps best known for his bombastic personality and all the steroids stuff. However, he was a great player, if not a Hall of Famer. He hit 33 homers as a rookie in 1986 when he was the rookie of the year with the Athletics. Then, in 1988, he became the first player to have 40 homers and 40 stolen bases in a single season. He was also AL MVP for the first of two times. That’s right, Canseco was a two-time MVP. PEDs or not, he was quite the player.

Mountcastle is an active player who is definitely heading in the wrong direction. He hit 33 homers in 2021 as a rookie with the Baltimore Orioles, but he also struck out a ton and had a .309 OBP. The next season, Mountcastle had 22 homers, but his homers have continued to drop, and he’s never learned how to take a walk. That doesn’t bode well for a first baseman with no defensive upside.

It’s weird that Walt Dropo was nicknamed “Moose,” because why do you need a nickname when your name is Walt Dropo? Dropo came out of the gate on fire. Playing for the Red Sox, Dropo didn’t just hit 34 homers as a rookie in 1950. He was Rookie of the Year, an all-star, and the AL RBI leader. Of course, as you have likely internalized by now, a remarkable rookie season doesn’t guarantee success. You know the drill. Dropo ended up a journeyman, he never made another All-Star Game, etc.

(Dropo is on the right)

Braun was considered a five-tool prospect, and while his fielding ultimately failed to stand out, his bat delivered and then some. The career Brewer had 34 homers in 2007 en route to Rookie of the Year. A six-time All-Star, Braun was the NL MVP in 2011, and he led the NL in home runs in 2012. Of course, while Braun would play in MLB until 2020, he did also admit to PED usage, including in his MVP season.

Hitting 35 homers as a rookie is impressive, clearly. However, Trosky did that in 1934. Back in the 1930s, hitting 35 home runs was truly remarkable, even for a veteran. Playing for Cleveland, Trosky popped those 35 homers, and in 1936 he led the American League in RBI. While Trosky retired with a .302 average and over 1,000 RBI, he’s also a case of what could have been. His career was hindered by serious migraines, and also by how 1930s and 1940s medicine could treat migraines.

By the time York hit 35 homers in 1937 it was totally unimpressive. We’re kidding, as that season the home run leader in the National League hit 31. York’s power continued with the Tigers, as he led the AL in homers in 1943. He was a seven-time all-star and won a ring with Detroit in 1945. York isn’t a Hall of Famer, but he had atypical power for his era.

Hey, what do you know? In 1983, Kittle hit 35 home runs for the White Sox. He was an all-star and AL Rookie of the Year. Kittle then proceeded never to make another All-Star Game and was a journeyman, bopping around MLB for a while, and his career didn’t even go a full decade. He retired with a career .239 average, which would be bad now, but was particularly bad in the 1980s.

Piazza is, of course, a matter altogether different. He’s a Hall of Famer, and the best power-hitting catcher in history. Piazza won a Silver Slugger on 10 occasions, and he retired with 427 home runs. He hit 396 of those as a catcher (he spent almost his entire career in a DH-less National League), which is a record. The first 35 of those homers? Those came in 1993 when he was a rookie with the Dodgers.

Coming from Cuba, Abreu made his MLB debut in his age-27 season. He was a star out of the gate for the White Sox. In 2014 he hit 36 home runs and led MLB with a .581 slugging percentage. Not only did he win AL Rookie of the Year, but Abreu finished fourth in MVP voting. In 2020, Abreu would be MVP, though in the shortened season. He was a very good power hitter and an RBI machine for several years, but of course, when you debut late, you fall off earlier than most. Abreu was effectively done as an MLB hitter by 2023, and was literally done in 2024.

Rosen’s career was brief, but he packed a lot into it. He was a rookie for Cleveland in 1950, though he was added to the roster for the 1948 World Series, the last time Cleveland won the title. Rosen hit 37 homers in 1950, which led the American League. Then, in 1953, he led the AL in homers and RBI and won MVP. That was one of his four all-star seasons. However, owing to nagging injuries, Rosen retired after the 1956 season. He was only 32 at the time.

(Fittingly, Rosen is the one holding the bat)

Pujols was so good in high school in college, on top of being an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, that rumors swirled he was older than what he purported to be. This played a key role in his falling to the 13th round. The Cardinals took a shot, and they got the steal of a lifetime. Pujols hit 37 homers in 2001. He led the National League in homers twice, won a batting title, won two Gold Gloves, and was a three-time MVP. Pujols played for two title-winning squads in St. Louis as well. He retired with over 700 homers, 2,000 RBI, and the reputation as one of the best players in MLB history. Pujols could have been five years older than he said he was and it wouldn’t have mattered.

For years, Berger had the record for most homers by a rookie. That’ll happen when you smash 38 homers in 1930. That was long enough ago that he did it for the Boston Braves. In 1935 he would lead the NL in homers and RBI as well. Unfortunately, in 1936, he injured both his shoulder and his hand, and back then, that could really alter a career. Berger petered out and was retired by 1940.

Robinson would come to co-hold the rookie homer record for a long time. He too got to 38 homers, doing so in 1956 with the Reds. Robinson’s career went better than Berger’s, though. A 14-time all-star, he became the first player to be the MVP in both the AL and NL. The Hall of Famer was a pretty good manager as well.

Bellinger’s career has shown that falling off after coming out of the gate with gusto isn’t a death sentence. The lefty was incredible as a rookie, hitting 39 homers for the Dodgers in 2017. Then, in 2019, he won a Gold Glove and the NL MVP. Unfortunately, shoulder surgery in 2020 held him back more than expected. It didn’t seem like he would wash out, but he was definitely diminished. However, Bellinger joined the Cubs in 2023 and won a Silver Slugger. Now a Yankee, and only just beginning his thirties, he’ll likely never be MVP level again, but he’s on pace to have a fine career.

McGwire didn’t just break the rookie homer record. He obliterated it. The Bash Brothers were born in 1987 when McGwire hit a whopping 49 home runs for the Athletics. You also undoubtedly know that, as a Cardinal, he became the first player in MLB history to hit 70 home runs. Of course, if you know that, you likely also know about the steroids accusations, which McGwire would eventually confirm.

McGwire fell just short of 50 homers. It wouldn’t be until 2017 that a rookie managed to cross that threshold. That would be Judge, the Yankee slugger who is still writing his resume as an all-time power hitter. It’s not just the 52 homers he hit as a rookie. Judge has led MLB in homers three times, won multiple MVPs, and he broke the American League record by hitting 62 home runs in a season. Built like an NFL tight end, Judge is on a Hall of Fame trajectory if he can play for long enough.

Judge’s rookie record only lasted a couple of seasons, though. Alonso would best his record in a different borough in 2019. Joining the Mets, Alonso hit 53 home runs. He’s already a Mets legend, their all-time home run leader, and an All-Star several times over. Maybe Alonso isn’t en route to the Hall like Judge, but he can say he’s hit the most homers of any rookie…for now.