Every rookie wants to make a strong first impression. If that comes courtesy of a bunch of home runs, all the better. But given that, for most people, new things come with an adjustment period, it’s rarely expected.

Rarely expected, but sometimes delivered. The author of the most recent rookie home run binge, Giants shortstop — and sometimes second baseman, sometimes center fielder — Tyler Fitzgerald, drew widespread attention by hitting 11 home runs across 17 games from July 9-Aug. 5.

To be clear, this isn’t just something that stands out among rookies — hitting 11 home runs in 17 games is a legitimately impressive feat, the kind of thing that’s more common in the modern game but usually only for the most special of power hitters. Other than Fitzgerald, only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani have had their own such spans in 2024. Fitzgerald’s heater is only made more intriguing by the fact that he always projected as a glove-first middle infielder with very little power to speak of, touted much more for his instincts than his tools.

Any rookie’s home run binge is going to raise questions about their future, even more so if it comes seemingly out of left field (or out to left field, as the case may be). If this is how they look right off the bat, what might they be capable of when experience is on their side?

In Fitzgerald’s case, we’re left to speculate for the time being. But his power surge looks an awful lot like several more we’ve seen in the past. Here’s how six of those recent home run binges shook out long term.

Aristides Aquino, 2019 Reds
The HR binge: 11 homers in 14 games (Aug. 3-17)

What happened: Aquino was a Minor League veteran by the time of his debut, having spent eight seasons in the Reds’ system. After going hitless in his first two games of 2019, he collected his first two hits — a single and that first home run — in his third game, and that was it. Over the course of the next couple of weeks, he became the first player in AL/NL history to hit eight home runs in his first 12 career games, and in adding three more in August after his initial heater had ended, he became just the third Cincinnati Red to hit at least 14 home runs in a single calendar month, joining the likes of Greg Vaughn (September 1999) and Frank Robinson (August 1962).

Did it last? Aquino remained relatively productive through the end of the 2019 season, finishing with 19 home runs in 56 games. Unfortunately, there was rarely room for him in the Reds’ outfield, and he hasn’t reached those offensive heights again, at least not in the Majors. He posted a 71 OPS+ from 2020-22, at which point the Reds designated him for assignment and he took his talents overseas.

Matt Olson, 2017 A’s
The HR binge: 16 homers in 23 games (Aug. 27-Sept. 22)

What happened: Although lauded for his raw power in the Minors, Olson went 2-for-21 in his first-look callup in 2016. He was then recalled and optioned six times in 2017 as the slowly resurgent Athletics — still a year away from their next playoff berth — shuffled their roster. A brutal introduction to the bigs, but none of that seemed to matter when he was finally plugged in at first base on a more permanent basis. Olson was recalled for the last time on Aug. 8, 2017, and promptly hit four home runs in five games from Aug. 11-15 — a fair enough warning as to what was coming. From Aug. 27 through the end of the regular season, Olson’s 16 home runs were the second-most in baseball. He also, unsurprisingly, brought his whole team with him. Although the A’s still finished last in the AL West, September was the only month in which they posted a winning record.

Did it last? A resounding yes. Olson has periodically struggled to keep his average up, but a lack of power has never been an issue. In total, he hit an outlandish 24 home runs in 59 games as a rookie — in the not-especially-hitter-friendly AL West, at that — and has since put up four 30-homer seasons, including a Major League-leading 54-homer barrage in 2023.

Rhys Hoskins, 2017 Phillies
The HR binge: 11 homers in 14 games (Aug. 14-27)

What happened: Hoskins rose to national prominence sort of abruptly, finding himself in the Majors just a few weeks after earning a start in the 2017 Futures Game. It took him all of five days to record his first multihomer game, becoming the first Phillies hitter to hit his first Major League home run as part of a multihomer game since Scott Rolen in 1996 (when Hoskins was just 3 years old).

Did it last? You might not consider him one of baseball’s premier power hitters, but Hoskins has plenty of pop, with at least 27 homers in each of his four full MLB seasons. It also comes through with remarkable consistency when it really matters. Case in point: he had four home runs in the 2022 NLCS against the Padres.

Aaron Judge, 2017 Yankees
The HR binge: 10 homers in 14 games (April 17-May 3)

What happened: This was a second try for Judge, then the Yankees’ No. 4 prospect, whose stock had taken a minor hit from a poor first showing in 2016, during which he hit .179 with 42 strikeouts in 95 plate appearances. All that was quickly forgotten a year later when, after hitting three home runs in 11 games to open the season, something clicked in mid-April.

Did it last? Let’s put it this way — April 16, 2017, in retrospect, was the last day American League pitchers knew peace. The aforementioned binge wasn’t even his last home run barrage of the 2017 season — he’d later hit 13 in a 19-game span in September. Judge ultimately ended his rookie season with 52 home runs (then a rookie record, although it was quickly broken by Pete Alonso a year later) and later went on to break the AL single-season home run record with 62 in 2022.

Gary Sánchez, 2016 Yankees
The HR binge: 11 homers in 15 games (Aug. 10-27)

What happened: In New York, before Judge there was Sánchez, who homered seven-time All-Star Brian McCann — then the Yankees’ starting catcher — out of a job. Starting with a four-hit night during which Sánchez hit his first career home run against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, he went on to put up a 1.668 OPS during his 15-game run, all while recording as many multihomer games (two) as hitless games.

Did it last? Off and on. Sánchez’s production in 2016 was the stuff of legend, and the 20 home runs he hit across 53 games earned him a second-place finish in AL Rookie of the Year Award voting despite his late start to the season. He put up a few more solid seasons with the Yankees, topping the 30-homer benchmark twice, but after he hit .201 from 2018-21, the Yanks gave him a change of scenery by trading him to the Twins, effectively closing the book on what could have been. Despite the tough ending to that chapter of his career, he had something of a resurgence in 2023, when he hit 19 home runs in 72 games for the Padres.

Trevor Story, 2016 Rockies
The HR binge: Six homers in four games (April 4-8)

What happened: After five Minor League seasons, Story won his job as the Rockies’ starting shortstop with an excellent spring. Colorado’s No. 11 prospect at the time, he’d flown mostly under the radar, having struggled to limit his strikeouts enough to really show off his power potential. This would not be a problem in his first four games. While this is the shortest streak on this list, Story has to be considered the godfather of the modern rookie home run binge; he was the fifth player to hit two home runs in his Major League debut, the first in AL/NL history to hit a home run in each of his first four career games and the first to homer for each of his first four career hits. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Did it last? Yes. All told, although limited to just 97 games by a torn ligament in his left thumb, Story led all rookies with 27 homers in 2016. He later went on to put up back-to-back 30-homer seasons in 2018-19. A series of injuries has limited him to just 145 games since 2022, so how his production will look when he’s back on the field remains in question, but as it stands, this is a success story. (No pun intended.)