While there is no shortage of established power hitters around MLB, there is always a new crop of sluggers poised to join the ranks of baseball's home run elite.
Guys such as Christian Walker (36 HR), Rowdy Tellez (35 HR), Anthony Santander (33 HR), Corey Seager (33 HR) and Willy Adames (31 HR) all reached the 30-homer mark for the first time in their careers in 2022, while Julio Rodríguez (28 HR), Brandon Drury (28 HR), Nathaniel Lowe (27 HR), Cal Raleigh (27 HR) and Daulton Varsho (27 HR) also took a significant step forward in their power production.
So, who's next?
We've highlighted 10 players who have never reached 20 home runs in a single season but could be poised to take a prominent position on the homer leaderboard in 2023.
Players were selected based on minor league track records, big league production and projected playing time, and they were ranked by my own home run total predictions.
Let's start with some honorable mentions.
Rookie HR Leader Predictions
We are not including rookies on our list, but here's our best guess at who leads the 2023 rookie class in home runs. A clear path to early playing time is a major factor here:
1. Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles
2. Triston Casas, Boston Red Sox
3. Josh Jung, Texas Rangers
4. Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks
5. Francisco Álvarez, New York Mets
6. Jordan Walker, St. Louis Cardinals
7. Oscar Colas, Chicago White Sox
8. Matt Mervis, Chicago Cubs
9. Spencer Steer, Cincinnati Reds
10. Miguel Vargas, Los Angeles Dodgers
Others to Watch: Brett Baty (NYM), Alec Burleson (STL), Michael Busch (LAD), Justin Dirden (HOU), Curtis Mead (TB), Garrett Mitchell (MIL), Bo Naylor (CLE), Logan O'Hoppe (LAA), James Outman (LAD), Oswald Peraza (NYY), Ezequiel Tovar (COL), Anthony Volpe (NYY), Matt Wallner (MIN), Drew Waters (KC)
Honorable Mentions
Bo Bichette, Toronto Blue Jays
With 20-plus home runs each of the past two seasons, Bichette was not eligible for inclusion on this list, but he could enjoy as big of a home run spike as anyone if his strong finish to the 2022 season carries over. The 24-year-old hit .406/.444/.662 with 11 doubles and seven home runs in 142 plate appearances over the final month of the season.
Harold Ramírez, Tampa Bay Rays
Ramírez has the raw power to be a serious home run threat, posting a max exit velocity above 110 mph in 2021 and 2022, but he needs to work on his launch angle. A minor tweak to his swing could make him a serious middle-of-the-order threat for the Rays after he posted a 119 OPS+ with 24 doubles and six home runs in 435 plate appearances last year.