Yes, You Read That Right

These players are actually leading baseball in these categories.

The MLB season is only 10 days old but there are already some great storylines. While looking at stats this early is sometimes pointless because the sample sizes are so small, there are some surprising names who are leading some major categories.

HR Leader: Chase DeLauter

Photo Credit: Icon Sportswire / Contributor / Getty Images

Rookie Chase DeLauter is tied for the MLB lead with five home runs with Shea Langeliers. While Langeliers is not a household name, he is coming off of back-to-back seasons with 29 and 31 home runs. For DeLauter, he could not have gotten off to a better start to his big league career. Last season in 42 games between Triple-A and the Arizona Fall League, DeLauter hit 7 home runs. While baseball fans may be surprised by the power display, Cleveland fans may not be as surprised. As a prospect, DeLauter graded out with 60 raw power. According to Baseball America, DeLauter has “Massive power that is apparent every time he steps into the batter’s box.” The biggest hurdle for DeLauter in his early professional career has been staying healthy. But it’s pretty cool to see a rookie leading the HR battle early in the season.

RBI Leader: Liam Hicks

Photo Credit: Carmen Mandato / Staff / Getty Images

I am going to go out on a limb here and say many baseball fans never heard of Liam Hicks before. Hicks was a former top 30 prospect in the Rangers farm system (#23 in 2024) before being taken in the Rule 5 draft by the Miami Marlins in 2024. Last season Hicks put up respectable numbers as a rookie .247 / .346 / .346 with 6 home runs. However, he has gotten off to one of the hottest starts among all hitters in 2026. Hicks is hitting .368 / .435 / .895 with 3 home runs and 12 RBI. Hicks’ 12 RBI is 2 more than C.J. Abrams, who is second in all of baseball. Hicks has an intriguing offensive profile and is someone worth following in Miami.

AVG. Leader: Joey Wiemer

Photo Credit: Mitchell Leff / Contributor / Getty Images

Players like Joey Wiemer go under the radar all the time because they play for teams who are expected to be 100+ loss teams like the Washington Nationals. However, there is still value on bad teams. Wiemer is off to an absolutely scorching starting going 10-17. His slash line of .588 / .682 / 1.059 looks like video game numbers rather than the real thing. While nobody expects Wiemer to lead baseball in batting average, Wiemer was almost a league average bat last season (96 OPS+). It’s possible that an opportunity in Washington for real playing time could be the key for Wiemer to showcase what he can do at the big league level.

Who knows how long DeLauter, Hicks, and Wiemer can keep this up for but it’s pretty cool to see players get an opportunity and make the most out of it.