The top of the home run list this season looks a bit unusual. I doubt anyone had Mark Trumbo leading the majors. Nolan Arenado did lead the NL in 2015 in homers, and Todd Frazier set a single season career high for himself in 2015. What strikes me, however, is the very high isolated power of the top hitters on the list. Isolated power is Slugging percentage – batting average, or extra bases per at bat. It measures how much of a hitter’s slugging percentage is due to actual power, rather than just a high BA. Looking at the list, there are a number of players above or hovering close to .300. That’s a huge number. It usually means that a high number of the player’s hits are going for extra bases.

Note, also, that with the exception of Frazier and Chris Carter, many of these players are hitting for high batting averages. They are not just failing away trying to hit every ball out of the park. They are making solid contact, and driving the ball for home runs and doubles. This is a group of hitters that are multi-dimensional, not just sluggers.