Aaron Boone, the manager of the New York Yankees, is running out of words to describe Aaron Judge. The Yankees’ powerful hitter launched his 49th home run of the season in Friday’s 3-0 win over the Colorado Rockies, putting him on track to reach 62 this season.
“It’s hard to wrap your head around,” Boone added afterward.
If Judge hits 62 home runs, he will tie his American League record and become the third player in history to have multiple seasons with 60 or more homers.
Aaron Boone running out of words to describe Aaron Judge
This is Judge’s fourth consecutive game with a home run, following a multihomer performance against the Guardians on August 21.
“I get asked about it all the time.” People come up to me. I am running out of things to say. You are experiencing greatness. “He’s kinda better than everyone,” he said.
The struggling Rockies were able to neutralize Judge in three of his four at-bats, as he grounded into a double play, lined out to third, and pop out. However, given enough opportunities, the league’s leading hitter made his imprint.
In the sixth inning, with the Yankees up by two, Judge led off with a single home run after the Rockies elected not to issue an intentional walk, a tactic increasingly used against him.
Judge had a 228 OPS+ entering Friday’s game, which is a metric that compares a player’s on-base plus slugging percentage to the league average of 100.
Judge is better than everyone
This means Judge is producing 126% better than the league average, ranking 10th in baseball history behind only Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth, and Ted Williams.
“He’s hitting.”340, he is walked out at an alarming rate; he will still be able to accomplish that damage in two at-bats if the other two are intentional walks. “It’s impressive,” said Yankee starter Carlos Rodon.
Judge dismissed the concept of being compared to Yankees greats.
I try not to think about it. Even when they mentioned the Yankee greats: [Mickey] Mantle, [Joe] DiMaggio, [Roger] Maris, and Babe Ruth. It’s difficult to grasp, so just don’t think about it and keep going,” said the hard hitting 32-year-old.
Judge has hit seven home runs in his previous eight games (going back to August 14), eight in his last 11 games (since August 11), 14 in his last 25 games (since July 26), and 17 in his last 34 games (since July 12).
This is Judge’s second home run in four successive games this season, having done it from May 22-25.
Aaron Judge in an unreal run for the Yankees
Judge is hitting.378 in his last 100 games since April 27, with 45 home runs, 24 doubles, 106 RBIs, and 84 walks. Interestingly, no one in MLB history—not even Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, or Barry Bonds—had ever managed to bat at least once.375 with 45 home homers in a 100-game span.
Giancarlo Stanton also homered for the Yankees, blasting one to right center in the fourth inning off Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland. Stanton hit a home run for the second time in as many games.
“He’s done it before, so you can’t be surprised,” Stanton said of Aaron Judge.
“We’ll give him plenty of time to perform even more spectacular things. Stay the course; we have time,” he added.
