It’s no secret that New York Yankees star Aaron Judge is one of the best players in all of Major League Baseball.
But so far this season, the 10th-year pro is slashing a ridiculous .432/.520/.792 for a monstrous 1.312 OPS. Despite playing in just 32 games thus far, Judge has accumulated 3.0 bWAR, leading the American League by a wide margin. He leads MLB in RBIs with 33, is second in the Majors with 12 homers, and is top 15 in walks.
Those numbers are beyond video-game-like. Those are the kind of stats a nine-year-old gets in MLB The Show when they play on beginner mode. We may be witnessing one of the greatest right-handed hitters that this game has ever seen.
History in the making
Judge has been off to such a good start this season that he is beginning to rewrite the record books, not even 40 games into the season.
Recently, Besibol FR’s Francys Romero took to his X account to point out Judge’s record-breaking start to the season.
“Aaron Judge is the first player in American League history with a .400+ batting average, 10+HR, and 30+RBIs in March/April (min. 100 at-bats) since 1920. “
In fact, in his last 162 regular-season games, the Yankees slugger has been even better. In that stretch, Judge has slashed .369/.494/.774 for a 1.268 OPS, the best stretch of that length since the prime years of Barry Bonds.
While Judge hasn’t yet recorded 73 homers in a single season like Bonds has, he did break the American League Record by smashing 62 in 2022. In Judge’s defense, it appears that Bonds had a little help to reach that milestone.
Judge has continued his hot start in the first few games in May. Since last season’s All-Star break, the 6’7 beast has smashed 34 homers, registered a WRC+ of 246, and walked just about as much as he’s struck out.
Elite in multiple facets
But Judge isn’t just great with the bat, his defense is elite as well. The former first-round pick gives the Yankees an 81st percentile range in Right field paired with a 98th percentile arm per Baseball Savant.
It’s hard to fathom how one player can be so dominant in so many areas. It’s also hard to compute how his 9-year $360 million contract could end up being a bargain for New York. While his former teammate, Juan Soto, signed for more than double that amount, Hal Steinbrenner got quite the bargain for Judge.
After their win on Friday against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees have advanced to 19-13 and maintained their lead in the American League East division. The Yankees have won their division in three of the past six seasons.
Since being named the captain of Team USA back in April, the new Captain America has represented his country well. But before he leads America onto the field against the best of the World, he will attempt to lead the Yankees back to the World Series for the second year in a row. His focus is on bringing the Yankees their first World Championship since 2009, a feat that would cement him as a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
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