Last Updated on October 7, 2025 by Matt Musico
MLB’s efforts to expand the postseason had initially brought us one extra game: the Wild Card play-in. But with the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement, that’s been expanded to a best-of-three Wild Card Series. Naturally, my mind wandered to the next most logical question: Who has hit the most home runs during this newly-created round of October?
We have the answers for you right here, whether the question is focused on a player’s career or a single postseason.
Related: The Definitive Guide to Postseason Home Run Leaders
Most Career Home Runs in Wild Card Series History
Since the Wild Card Series hasn’t been around too long yet, we’ve got a lot of players bunched together atop the leaderboard. So far, 14 players have slugged at least two career dingers in the Wild Card Series, but only four have hit more. After that, there’s a 10-way tie at two homers.
Teoscar Hernandez: 4 Home Runs
Teoscar Hernandez collected just two hits in Toronto’s Wild Card Series loss to the Seattle Mariners in 2022. Both his knocks were also homers, leading to a .250/.333/1.000 line in nine plate appearances.
This performance is in stark contrast to Hernandez’s 2020 postseason results. That also came with the Blue Jays, who failed to advance against the Tampa Bay Rays. The outfielder singled once across two games (eight plate appearances) during that matchup.
As the Dodgers pummeled the Cincinnati Reds in a two-game sweep, Teoscar was busy making life miserable for opposing pitchers. He needed just 10 plate appearances to post a 1.500 OPS. Of the four hits he recorded, three went for extra bases (one double, two homers). He also drove in six runs in the process.
Fernando Tatis Jr.: 3 Home Runs
Fernando Tatis Jr. wasn’t part of the Padres’ 2022 NLCS run, but he made an impact after an abbreviated 2020 campaign. Across 14 plate appearances against the St. Louis Cardinals, Nando hit .455/.571/1.091 with two homers, one double, five RBI, and five runs scored.
He had to wait until 2024 for his next taste of October baseball. He immediately took advantage of the moment by hitting the first homer of the postseason in his first at-bat of Game 1 against the Atlanta Braves. That sparked the beginning of a two-game sweep for San Diego. Tatis Jr. racked up four hits in eight plate appearances in the series, leading to a 1.917 OPS.
Manny Machado: 2 Home Runs
Manny Machado already has the most in Padres franchise history. When including his other trips to October, the infielder has 12 career dingers during the playoffs in 218 plate appearances.
Across three NL Wild Card Series, Machado has collected just seven hits in 47 plate appearances. The .622 OPS he’s produced isn’t worth writing home about, but five have gone for extra bases (two doubles, three homers) while accumulating eight RBI.
Giancarlo Stanton: 2(ish) Home Runs
Giancarlo Stanton’s tenure with the Yankees has been a weird one. It’s included lots of injuries, but also plenty of homers, especially during the postseason. He’s gotten to play in October with the Bombers seven times since 2022. Stanton racked up 18 homers with 42 RBI and a .930 OPS in 193 plate appearances.
Including the one-game Wild Card, Stanton has technically hit four dingers during this part of the postseason. Since I’m only counting the Wild Card Series, he’s got two, like many others. Both came in 2020 against Cleveland. Those were the only hits he registered during that matchup in 10 plate appearances, leading to a .286/.400/1.143 triple slash.
Paul Goldschmidt: 2 Home Runs
It should surprise nobody that Paul Goldschmidt has been a solid postseason performer during his MLB career. He’s slashing .261/.333/.576 across 102 total plate appearances. Most of the damage he’s done has occurred in the Division Series (1.176 OPS in 54 plate appearances). He’s also maximized his opportunities in the Wild Card Round, though.
Goldschmidt has actually slugged three homers during this round, but one came in 2017 when the Diamondbacks played in the winner-take-all one-game playoff. Both of his other homers came in 2020, and his most recent appearance in that round wasn’t good. The only thing he did in eight plate appearances against the Phillies in 2022 was get hit by a pitch once.
Wil Myers: 2 Home Runs
Wil Myers owns a .489 OPS across 77 postseason plate appearances. The only time his OPS has crested over .521 in a single series was in the 2020 NL Wild Card Series for the Padres. In helping San Diego advance, Myers slashed .333/.429/.833 with those two homers, four RBI, and two runs scored.
He racked up four total hits in 14 plate appearances. The right-handed hitter has collected four total hits since that series (42 plate appearances).
Trent Grisham: 2 Home Runs
For a brief period of time, the light-hitting Trent Grisham turned into Babe Ruth against the Mets in San Diego’s 2022 NL Wild Card Series matchup. Across 524 trips to the plate in the regular season, Grisham slugged 17 homers while posting a .626 OPS.
In 12 plate appearances against New York that October, he slashed .500/.667/1.250 with two homers, three RBI, and five runs scored. He added two walks and two hit-by-pitches to his ledger, as well.
Yasmani Grandal: 2 Home Runs
Yasmani Grandal and the White Sox lost to the Oakland Athletics in their 2020 AL Wild Card Series matchup. Chicago’s veteran backstop collected just two hits in 14 plate appearances. As you could guess, they were both homers, leading to a .200/.429/.800 line.
He’s hit six career postseason home runs in 128 plate appearances. Three of them have come for the White Sox between 2020 and 2021 (32 plate appearances).
Danny Jansen: 2 Home Runs
While the sample size is incredibly short, Danny Jansen has shown he’s not afraid of the postseason stage as a member of the Blue Jays. In 13 total plate appearances (two series), Jansen is slashing .385/.385/.923 with three extra-base hits (one double, two homers).
Both homers came during the 2020 AL Wild Card Series. Before that performance, Jansen hit six homers with a .671 OPS in 43 regular-season games. That’s how you make the most of an opportunity, folks.
Royce Lewis: 2 Home Runs
The Twins entered their Wild Card Series against the Blue Jays with a huge monkey to get off their back. Minnesota hadn’t won a playoff game since 2004. They also hadn’t advanced in October since 2002. They accomplished both of those things by sweeping Toronto at Target Field.
Royce Lewis was a big part of that. He was the only player in a Wild Card Series to slug multiple home runs by hitting two. Across eight plate appearances, Lewis slashed .333/.500/1.533 with those two dingers, three RBI, and three runs scored. That sussed out to a 350 wRC+.
Kyle Higashioka: 2 Home Runs
Kyle Higashioka has played in the Wild Card Round twice — once with the Yankees and once with the Padres. His appearance with New York was in 2021, when it was still a one-game play-in, so his 2024 experience with San Diego was his first time doing it under the new format.
He hit just one home run in 263 regular-season plate appearances for the Padres in 2024. So naturally, he slugged two dingers in just seven trips to the plate over two games.
Pete Alonso: 2 Home Runs
Pete Alonso has played in two Wild Card Series and has homered in each of them. He’s put together a .263/.417/.579 line across 24 career plate appearances during this round of the playoffs. His second one — which came in Game 3 against the Brewers in 2024 — will go down as one of the most memorable of his career.
The Mets were losing 2-0 in the ninth inning, staring elimination in the face. Alonso lined a ball over the right-center field wall for a three-run homer, which was ultimately the difference in the contest.
It also led to this insane fact, sourced by MLB.com’s Sarah Langs:
The Mets are the first team in MLB history to clinch a postseason spot in a win and win a playoff series BOTH via games in which they faced a deficit in the 9th inning or later
in other words, research confirms
h/t @EliasSports https://t.co/DTzASgggP4
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) October 4, 2024
Jackson Chourio: 2 Home Runs
Jackson Chourio was just 20 years old at the time of his first postseason appearance with the Brewers. The bright lights and big stage of the postseason didn’t bother him one bit, though. He slashed .455/.500/1.000 with two homers, three RBI, and three runs scored in 12 plate appearances.
Both homers came in a Game 2 win for Milwaukee. He became the first player in Brewers history with a multi-homer game in the postseason.
Shohei Ohtani: 2 Home Runs
Of course this guy made his way onto this list despite playing in just one Wild Card Series through 2025. In fact, Ohtani’s two homers against the Reds both came in Game 1. The first one was a 117-mph leadoff missile, while the second one traveled 454 feet. It’s one of the longest postseason home runs of the Statcast era.
Most Wild Card Series Home Runs (Single Season)
With only five seasons of the Wild Card Series being a thing during the MLB postseason (2020 and 2022-25), there are a lot of repeats on the single-season leaderboard.
There is a 13-way tie for the lead in this category. The following players have all slugged two homers in a single Wild Card Series, per FanGraphs:
- Giancarlo Stanton (2020)
- Paul Goldschmidt (2020)
- Wil Myers (2020)
- Yasmani Grandal (2020)
- Danny Janson (2020)
- Fernando Tatis Jr. (2020)
- Teoscar Hernandez (2020 + 2025)
- Trent Grisham (2022)
- Royce Lewis (2023)
- Kyle Higashioka (2024)
- Jackson Chourio (2024)
- Shohei Ohtani (2025)
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