Walk-off home runs tend to have it all. Excitement. Drama. High stakes. But there are just some walk-offs that end up meaning more than others. From the postseason to Opening Day, here are our 10 favorite walk-off home runs from the 2022 season.
Alvarez gave Astros fans a moment to remember in Game 1 of the ALDS, smashing the first walk-off home run in postseason history by a team trailing by multiple runs. It wasn’t Alvarez’s only clutch big fly of the Astros’ championship run, either.
Cal Raleigh (SEA), Sept. 30 vs. OAK
Grand slam in 9th inning
What a way to end a historic playoff drought. While the Mariners earning a playoff berth was a bit of a given when Raleigh stepped into the batter’s box, the switch-hitting catcher removed all doubt with a pinch-hit grand slam that clanged off the windows of the Hit It Here Cafe in right field. Raleigh’s blast was the first pinch-hit, playoff-berth-clinching home run in MLB history.
Nearly three weeks before Raleigh blasted Seattle into the postseason, Suárez completed a series win against the Braves with a walk-off shot against Atlanta closer Kenley Jansen in what was one of the games of the year.
Aaron Judge (NYY), July 28 vs. KC
Solo home run in 9th inning
Coming into 2022, Judge had (somehow) never hit a walk-off home run in his career. He made up for that by blasting three walk-off shots during his historic season, which tied Mickey Mantle for the most in a single Yankees season. None was more electric than this homer, which broke a scoreless tie and ended with Judge hitting the Griddy on his way to the plate.
Riley Greene (DET), July 2 vs. KC
Solo home run in 9th inning
Detroit’s top prospect entering 2022, Greene’s Major League debut was delayed until June after he fractured his right foot on a foul ball in Spring Training. That said, Greene’s talent was on display from the minute he stepped foot in Comerica Park, as evidenced by this 432-foot walk-off blast for his first career homer.
Bryson Stott (PHI), June 5 vs. LAA
Three-run home run in 9th inning
This home run from Stott capped a wild weekend for the Phillies that started with the firing of manager Joe Girardi and ended with Stott and his teammates celebrating a four-game sweep of the Angels at home plate at Citizens Bank Park. An inning after Bryce Harper mashed a game-tying grand slam, Stott won it for the Phillies with this two-out shot.
Rodgers’ walk-off home run — his THIRD homer of the game — capped off one of the wildest games of the year. It was the first time in nearly four years that a player’s third long ball of the game was of the walk-off variety.
Bryon Buxton (MIN), April 24 vs. CHW
Three-run home run in 10th inning
Seth Beer (ARI), April 7 vs. SDP
Three-run home run in 9th inning
Some things in baseball just make sense. Beer hitting a walk-off homer on National Beer Day is one of them. Beer’s was the first walk-off long ball of 2022, and it set up a baseball season like no other.