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, 19 players have slugged at least two career dingers in the Wild Card Series, but only five have hit at least three.
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.: 4 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.
The 2026 postseason included another two-game sweep for San Diego, this time sending the Chicago Cubs packing for the winter. Tatis immediately set the tone by slugging a leadoff homer on the first pitch he saw in Game 1.
Manny Machado: 4 Home Runs
Manny Machado already has the most in Padres franchise history. When including his other trips to October, the infielder has 13 career dingers during the playoffs in 243 plate appearances.
Across five NL Wild Card Series, Machado has collected 10 hits in 55 plate appearances. The .745 OPS he’s produced isn’t worth writing home about, but seven have gone for extra bases (three doubles, four homers) while accumulating 10 RBI.
Giancarlo Stanton: 3(ish) Home Runs
Giancarlo Stanton’s tenure with the Yankees has been a weird one. It has included lots of injuries, but also plenty of homers, especially during the postseason. He’s gotten to play in October with the Bombers eight times since 2018. Stanton racked up 18 homers with 44 RBI and a .916 OPS in 204 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.
Ben Rice: 3 Home Runs
Ben Rice’s first career postseason home run came in 2025, when the Yankees ousted the Boston Red Sox in a three-game showdown at Yankee Stadium. But in 2026, he was the driving force behind a two-game sweep of New York’s rival in the Bronx.
The left-handed slugger racked up five hits in 10 plate appearances, which included two homers, a double, six RBI, and three runs scored for the Bombers. Four of those hits (including both of his homers) and all of those RBI came in Game 1 victory.
Most Wild Card Series Home Runs (Single Season)
With only six 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 14-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)
- Ben Rice (2026)
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