MLB solo homers in 2020: a brief breakdown
by Fred Hofstetter on January 15, 2021Discover the Hot Facts about the instances of MLB home runs in which no baseball players occupied bases. The shocking truths revealed within will surely shock you.
Nobody hit more solo homers than the best team in the league. Photo via Flickr.
It’s the offseason and I’m sitting by myself at 10 o’clock on a Thursday reminiscing about being frustrated about important things like how few baserunners seem to be on base when my favorite team hits a home run.
So I wondered, how many solo home runs were hit in MLB’s shortened 2020 regular season? Here’s an answer, and more fun facts there’s no reason for anyone to ever care to know or retain:
- There were 1,325 solo home runs in MLB’s 2020 regular season, 59.5% of the 2,304 total home runs hit during the regular season.
- There were 3,965 solo home runs in MLB’s 2019 full regular season, 59.5% of its 6,776 total home runs. That’s not a typo, I double checked. Some things don’t change much, I guess.
- The Los Angeles Dodgers hit more solo home runs than any other MLB team (70).
- The Arizona Diamondbacks allowed more solo home runs than any other MLB team (59).
- Matthew Boyd of the Detroit Tigers surrendered more solo home runs than any other pitcher (11).
- Jose Abreu, Nelson Cruz, and Luke Voit tied for the league lead in solo homers (12).
- Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati yielded the most solo home runs (64).
- Most solo homers were hit on the first pitch (211).
- Most solo homers were hit with 0 outs (619).
- The Mets and Yankees hit the same number of solo HR (50).
Here’s some more cold, hard data:
| Team | Solo HR |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 70 |
| Minnesota Twins | 62 |
| Chicago White Sox | 59 |
| Atlanta Braves | 53 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 53 |
| San Diego Padres | 52 |
| New York Yankees | 50 |
| New York Mets | 50 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 49 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 49 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 48 |
| San Francisco Giants | 47 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 47 |
| Boston Red Sox | 47 |
| Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | 46 |
| Chicaco Cubs | 46 |
| Texas Rangers | 42 |
| Houston Astros | 42 |
| Oakland Athletics | 40 |
| Washington Nationals | 40 |
| Kansas City Royals | 38 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 37 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 37 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 36 |
| Colorado Rockies | 36 |
| Miami Marlins | 36 |
| Seattle Mariners | 35 |
| Detroit Tigers | 30 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 26 |
| Cleveland Not Indians | 22 |
| Player | Solo HR |
|---|---|
| José Abreu | 12 |
| Nelson Cruz | 12 |
| Luke Voit | 12 |
| Marcell Ozuna | 11 |
| Corey Seager | 11 |
| Teoscar Hernandez | 11 |
| Tim Anderson | 10 |
| Fernando Tatis Jr. | 10 |
| Renato Nunez | 10 |
| Anthony Rizzo | 10 |
| Trevor Story | 10 |
| Mookie Betts | 10 |
| Manny Machado | 10 |
| AJ Pollock | 10 |
All stats are courtesy of Stathead Baseball. Thank you, Stathead baseball, for momentarily satiating my fleeting curiosity.
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