MLB Home Run Leaders in the 2024 Season: Judge, Ohtani, and International Power Surge

Plate Appearances (PA) is a baseball statistic that counts the total number of times a player comes to bat, including at-bats, walks, hit by pitches, and sacrifice plays. It gives context to a player’s offensive output, especially in evaluating stats like home runs relative to opportunities.

The 2024 Major League Baseball season has been marked by a powerful resurgence of home run hitters, showcasing talent from around the world. At the top, Aaron Judge reclaimed his home run crown with a staggering 58 homers across 704 plate appearances, reinforcing his reputation as one of the most dominant sluggers in the league. Right behind him, Shohei Ohtani continues to redefine what’s possible as a two-way player, smashing 54 home runs while maintaining a heavy offensive workload with 731 plate appearances.

Interestingly, the chart underscores the international spread of power hitters. Anthony Santander, hailing from Venezuela, placed third with 44 home runs. Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic contributed four players in the top 10—Juan Soto, Marcell Ozuna, José Ramírez, and Ketel Marte—demonstrating the country’s deep bench of MLB talent. The chart also reveals a relatively tight grouping from 4th to 10th place, with home run totals ranging from 41 to 36, indicating a competitive and dynamic power-hitting environment.

In addition to raw home run numbers, the chart’s inclusion of plate appearances provides deeper insight into player efficiency. For instance, Brent Rooker’s 39 home runs in just 614 plate appearances suggest higher power density compared to others with similar totals but more at-bats. This metric helps contextualize how impactful each player's season truly was beyond their raw home run count.

Furthermore, the chart reflects evolving global dynamics in baseball. Players like Ohtani and Yordan Álvarez (Cuba) signal the increasing diversification of elite hitters in the MLB. The presence of multiple nationalities in the upper echelon of this list not only speaks to the global appeal of baseball but also to the international development pipelines that continue to feed talent into the league.

Taken together, the 2024 home run leaders chart is more than just a ranking—it paints a picture of a shifting power balance in MLB, where global stars are pushing traditional boundaries and contributing to one of the most exciting offensive eras in recent memory.