2025 was another historic year for home runs. Cal, Judge, Ohtani and Schwarber all put on a show, joining 2001 as the only year with four 50+ home run seasons. The home run has always supercharged the game but here we are in the midst of something unprecedented again. Can the amps really go up to 11--or stay there? In the playoffs, there's this meta-modern idea of knowing the book against you as a hitter and going against it, like it's that easy. Not hitting into the shift or just being different when everything is "different" in the postseason. Over the regular season though, this zag inevitably takes the shape of guys swinging for the fences. The homerun is the ultimate gotcha.

Ohtani has everyone thinking anything is possible. Come Spring Training, same as it ever was. But catchers hitting 60 HRs, Judge being the most lopsided hitter since Barry Bonds, rookies with 4-hr games and Juan Soto threatening to join the 40/40 club do lay out what's now possible. If Jose Ramirez can just put his team on his back like he's the user-controlled player in MLB The Show, what else is your superstar capable of?

At the same time, how's the rest of the league doing? If you were to take out the top 1/10th of the production in MLB, how do the other 9/10ths look? Next week we'll break out a granular analysis of the different offensive stratas in the league and see how they've shifted over time.

Original chart by Anecdote Baseball.