Colton Cowser hit a lead off home run for the Orioles Friday night against the Rays. That’s a home run by the first batter for a team in a game. It’s the 112th lead-off home run of the season in the majors, That ranks 12th since 1974, with about 45 games left to play.

If you sort by season, you can see when the shift to power hitters at the top of the order happened:

There were fits and starts from 2004 through 2015, but the homers starting games leaped to the next level in 2016 and stayed there. The top five in leadoff home runs since the start of the 2016 season are George Springer, Mookie Betts, Kyle Schwarber, Jose Altuve, and Ronald Acuna. I suspect only Altuve would have batted leadoff before 2000.

Update: Ian Happ leads off for the Cubs against the White Sox with a HR, number 113 on the season.

Update: George Springer also went deep in the first inning, bringing the total to 114. That ties 2012.