When Kurtz hit his 34th and 35th home runs on Sept. 25 against the Astros, he became just the 12th rookie in MLB history with 35 or more home runs in a single season. There has been no shortage of memorable moments for the slugging A’s rookie, like when Kurtz became the first MLB rookie with four home runs in a game on July 25 against the Astros and hit a 493-foot home run at West Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park on Sept. 13.
Alonso hit the ground running in his rookie season with the Mets, hitting an MLB-rookie and Mets record 53 home runs. This kickstarted a stretch of Alonso becoming one of the best power hitters of his generation, as he hit 16 home runs in the COVID-shortened 2020 season and then at least 34 home runs in each of the next five seasons. Alonso’s 53 home runs as a rookie remain his career high by a wide margin, with his 46 homers in 2023 being the next-closest.
Until Judge came along, no rookie had ever hit 50 home runs in a season (of course, Alonso did it again two years later). Judge unanimously won AL Rookie of the Year with his 52 home runs and a 1.049 OPS. What was maybe less clear at the time was just how good Judge would become, as this would be his first of four 50-homer seasons (tied for the most in MLB history) and just the start of his impressive collection of accolades. Judge would go onto win AL MVP in 2022 with an AL-record 62 home runs and unanimously won the Award in 2024 with 58 homers.
When McGwire crushed 49 homers in ’87, he reached a stratosphere of slugging that no other rookie had ever remotely approached. Before him, no rookie had ever hit 40 home runs in a season, let alone finishing one homer shy of a 50-homer season. Of course, McGwire’s rookie season was just a taste of what was to come, as he proceeded to slug 583 career home runs, including a then-MLB record 70 home runs in 1998. We’d be remiss, however, to not reference McGwire’s admitted steroid use, which helped explain why he hasn’t been elected to the Hall of Fame.
Bellinger burst onto the scene in 2017 for a Dodgers club that made it to their first World Series since 1988. Bellinger unanimously won NL Rookie of the Year and found himself hitting in the middle of the Dodgers lineup against the Astros in that year’s Fall Classic. While this proved to be an excellent debut season, Bellinger’s best was yet to come, as he took home NL MVP honors in 2019 with 47 home runs and a 1.035 OPS.
Robinson took no time to showcase his talents in what would be a Hall of Fame career. Robinson’s 38 homers as a rookie would wind up being the third-most of any season in his career that saw him crush 586 home runs. Robinson’s 1956 season was also his first of what would be 14 All-Star Game selections.
It was a rough time for the Boston Braves at the turn of the decade, but Berger was one of the bright spots in the 1930s for the Braves. In his rookie season, Berger crushed 38 home runs with a .990 OPS, both of which represented career highs. While his career only lasted 11 seasons, Berger was one of the better players in the ’30s, appearing in four All-Star Games and hitting 242 career homers.
Pujols crushed 37 home runs as a rookie and never looked back, becoming one of the best players of his generation and one of the most prodigious sluggers in MLB history. Pujols’ story is well-documented but it’s worth repeating that he was selected in the 13th round of the 1999 Draft out of a community college in Kansas City. Within short order, it was clear that Pujols would become an absolute force and he would go on to slug 703 home runs, win three MVP Awards and win two World Series titles with the Cardinals.
Before coming stateside in 2014 , Abreu was one of the best players in Cuban baseball history, hitting 178 home runs in 772 games (10 seasons) with the Elefantes de Cienfuegos. The White Sox signed Abreu to a six-year, $68 million deal before the ’14 season and saw the slugging first baseman hit 243 home runs in nine seasons with Chicago. He also went on to win AL MVP in the shortened 2020 season.
The A’s selected Kurtz fourth overall out of Wake Forest in the 2024 Draft. Within a calendar year, Kurtz was in the Majors producing like one of the best hitters in the Majors. That included a memorable four-homer game against the Astros on July 25 and a 493-foot home run at West Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park on Sept. 13. After his teammate Jacob Wilson looked like the AL Rookie of the Year frontrunner for the first part of the season, Kurtz’s dominance made him a favorite to win the Award.
Selected in the 62nd round of the 1988 Draft (yes, the Draft used to be that long), Piazza became a full-time regular catcher in 1993, when he slugged 35 home runs with a .932 OPS and won NL Rookie of the Year honors for the Dodgers. Piazza would eventually hit 427 home runs, the most by a primary catcher in MLB history, make 12 All-Star Games and be elected to the Hall of Fame.