No. 1 overall Draft picks were the name of the game Sunday as the Tigers took on the Phillies at BayCare Ballpark. In the bottom of the first, 2010 No. 1 overall pick Bryce Harper homered off Casey Mize, who was taken first in ‘18. Then, in the top of the second, 2020 No. 1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson went yard for Detroit. In the bottom of the fourth, it was 2016 No. 1 overall pick Mickey Moniak’s turn – also off Mize.
Harper and Moniak also each added another homer later in the game, which the Phillies won, 8-7.
That’s a lot of first-overall energy in one game. And yes, it’s Spring Training, but — as first poised by The Athletic’s Jayson Stark — what is the regular and postseason precedent? Glad you asked.
There have been just five games in the regular season or postseason where three No. 1 overall picks each homered, and four of them happened in the same year — 1998. On April 15, 1998, Darin Erstad (1995), Darryl Strawberry (‘80) and Phil Nevin (‘92) all homered in an Angels-Yankees game. On April 30, Alex Rodriguez (‘93), Strawberry and Ken Griffey Jr. (‘87) did so in a Yankees-Mariners game, a feat they’d repeat on Aug. 29. And on June 2, 1998, Rodriguez, Griffey and B.J. Surhoff (‘85) all homered in a Mariners-Orioles game.
The only occurrence not in 1998 was Sept. 10, 1978, between the Dodgers and Braves, with homers from Bob Horner (‘78), Jeff Burroughs (‘69) and Rick Monday (‘65, the first amateur draft in MLB history).
And as for the fact that two of the homers were off a pitcher who was a No. 1 overall pick in Mize, that’s something that’s never happened in a regular-season or postseason game. No first overall pick has ever allowed homers to two different No. 1 picks in the same game.
To put it all together: Moniak, Harper and Torkelson combined for five home runs in the game. There’s never been a regular-season or postseason game with more than four total homers from No. 1 overall picks.