MLB 2024 Home Run Race: Early leaders, stats, predictions and more - April 14

Hitting home runs is the only way to guarantee a run scores. No other batted ball has a 100% run-producing rate no matter the situation. Even a single with a man on third doesn't imply a run will be scored, so hitting home runs is extremely important in the modern game.

With that said, not everyone's great at doing so. The power stroke doesn't come for every single MLB hitter. Sometimes it comes and goes as the season rolls on. Currently, there are a few players who are blasting pitches out of the mark with much more frequency than their counterparts.

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Current leaders in MLB home runs and stats

There is a five-way tie for the lead in home runs in Major League Baseball right now. No one has hit more than six, and those players are Mookie Betts, Mike Trout, Pete Alonso, Marcell Ozuna and Tyler O'Neill.

Tyler O'Neill leads the league in home runs

Just behind them with five apiece are Teoscar Hernandez, Fernando Tatis Jr., Taylor Ward and Christian Yelich. It has been a hot start for all of these players, as five or six home runs through generally 14 or 15 team games is incredible.

Quite a few are just behind them with four, including Yordan Alvarez, Elly de la Cruz, Shohei Ohtani, Brandon Marsh and many others. 14 such players have four bombs so far.

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Home run predictions

As far as the above players go, it's more than reasonable to expect Mike Trout, Yordan Alvarez, Shohei Ohtani and Pete Alonso to be among the leaders once the season ends. Generally speaking, if these players have been healthy, they've been among the league leaders every year of their careers.

However, there are some players currently off to slower starts that will undoubtedly insert themselves into this race sooner or later. Aaron Judge, who has two home runs for the New York Yankees right now, is all but guaranteed to catch up to the pack pretty soon.

Matt Olson was the league's most prolific home run hitter last year. The Atlanta Braves star only has three right now, but he should pick up the pace as well. Kyle Schwarber routinely hits more home runs than most, and he also has three currently.

The final leaderboard will almost assuredly include these players named here, though there will be some surprises there along the way, perhaps such as Teoscar Hernandez, as well.