The New York Yankees are hot at the right time, having won six of their past seven games. And a scorching-hot Aaron Judge is a huge reason why the team is keeping up with the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East. Judge is having an all-time great power-hitting season, slashing.500/.613/.1.042 in his last seven games with five home runs, 11 RBI, 10 runs scored, and a 22.6 percent walk rate.
Those eye-popping figures piqued Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodon’s interest, and he couldn’t help but praise about Judge. “He is the best hitter in the game. Fans often predict whether a player will hit a home run or walk. “It’s a must-watch every at-bat,” Rodon told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch on X.
Judge has tormented Blue Jays pitchers in the last two games, hitting two home runs, four RBI, three runs scored, and drawing three walks. The onslaught became so severe that, following a first-inning two-run homer, Blue Jays manager John Schneider chose to walk Judge with the bases empty in the second inning, something that had not been done in 52 years.
The Yankees’ Aaron Judge is having an historic offensive season
Judge now leads the majors in WAR (7.6), home runs (41) and RBIs (103). The Yankees’ All-Star leads baseball in on-base percentage, slugging, OPS, OPS+, and total bases, and ranks fourth in runs with 87.
While Judge is the leading candidate for the AL MVP award, Shohei Ohtani, the National League’s greatest hitter, has been putting on his own power show in 2024. The Yankees’ bruiser leads Ohtani in almost every offensive category, and Judge has played 68 games in center field and 79 games overall in the outfield this season, but Ohtani has only played DH while recovering from elbow surgery. Nonetheless, the two-time MVP winner has been excellent as a designated hitter, posting 5.9 WAR thus far.
Ohtani currently leads the National League in home runs (33), runs scored (84), batting average (.308), on-base percentage (.398), slugging (.630), OPS (1.028), OPS+ (187), and total bases (264). He has led the Los Angeles Dodgers to a four-game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West heading into Saturday, and he is on track to break the WAR record for a designated hitter and become the first DH to earn MVP.
Rodon believes Judge is baseball’s best hitter, and the analytics back him up. However, even if both guys win their league’s Most Valuable Player awards, Ohtani will still have a 3-2 advantage in total MVPs over Judge.
