Aaron Judge’s 2022 MVP season stands among the greatest individual offensive seasons in baseball history. Judge set the single-season American League home run record with 62 long balls, eclipsing the 61 former Yankees star Roger Maris hit in 1961 to stand alone as the AL home run King.
While Judge started his big league career late and likely won't play long enough to reach Babe Ruth's 714 mark, he could have a chance to even break his single-season record for homers.
In 2024, Aaron Judge has already hit 34 long balls through 99 games, putting him in line to hit just under 60 homers. If he keeps his pace up, he’ll just need a little bit of luck to hit a few extra and make a run at 63 or 64 home runs. It will be difficult, but it can be done. That in and of itself is an incredible accomplishment considering the difficulty of hitting homers at the big league level.
A sequel to the magical summer of ‘61?
With pitching only getting better in recent years, there were doubts anybody could do what Maris did way back in 1961. Judge has already done it once and might just do it again.
This season is even more exciting for Yankees fans, though. In 2022, the team collapsed down the stretch and Judge was essentially the only player worth paying attention to. This year is more like 1961 with Juan Soto teaming up with Judge to recreate the magic of Maris and Mickey Mantle.
Judge is the best power hitter since Barry Bonds
Judge isn’t just a superstar slugger, he is the premier power hitter in all of baseball right now. For many younger fans, he’s without a doubt the best power hitter they’ve ever seen in their lifetime.
There’s a case to be made that Judge is better than prime Alex Rodriguez, given that he’s averaging 50 home runs per 162 games compared to A-Rod's rate of 40 per 162. However, what made Rodriguez special is that he was a five-tool player who could hit for average as well as power. Yet, Judge arguably even has him beat there. Despite beginning his career with a home-run-or-bust reputation, Judge has developed nicely into an all-around hitter. In his record-breaking 2022 season, Judge nearly won the Triple Crown, ending the season with a .311 batting average and .425 on-base percentage.
Aaron Judge went supernova in May and June
In May, Judge hit 14 home runs. If he kept up that monthly pace, he would hit approximately 80 homers over the course of a full season. Needless to say, if he actually did that for a whole year, it would easily be the greatest individual season of all time.
Bonds hit 73 while allegedly using steroids. If Judge could break that record with room to spare while playing clean, that would put him in the conversation among the shortlist of players who could legitimately be considered the greatest of all time.
So, has the Yankees’ slugger done anything differently this year? The answer is yes, but it isn’t all Judge. He’s certainly getting better pitches to hit, which can largely be attributed to the presence of Juan Soto, the resurgence of Giancarlo Stanton prior to the injury, the early-season play of Anthony Volpe, and even the emergence of Ben Rice.
With Soto hitting in front of Judge and getting on base at a 40% clip, Judge often finds himself at the plate with one or even two runners on base. This makes opposing pitchers think twice before just auto-walking Judge. If they get behind in the count, they have to make the decision to give up on the at-bat and move a runner into scoring position or even load the bases. If they decide to battle back, they have to take a chance and put pitches over the plate where Judge can do damage.
What Judge does better than anybody in baseball is punish pitchers when they make mistakes. He was off to a bit of a slow start in April, but even the best players in the world go through slumps. When he’s mashing, he hunts fastballs and hanging breaking balls. With runners often on base ahead of him, pitchers are afraid of giving up a walk and are more likely to make mistakes. When they do, Judge has been jumping on them and putting balls into orbit.
The streak Aaron Judge had been on throughout May and June was certainly the best baseball I’ve ever seen a single player play for a sustained period. Even though he hasn’t hit homers at quite the same pace in July, he’s still been hitting the ball hard. It’s a bit of random variance whether they land in the field of play or the seats, and if he keeps ripping the cover off the baseball, they’ll start leaving the yard again soon enough.
Could Judge's special season challenge Bonds for the MLB single-season home run record?
If Judge can play like he did in May and June for another two to four weeks, he’ll be well on his way to running off with the American League MVP honors for the season. If he keeps it up for six to eight weeks and stays healthy all year, he might just find himself in position to make a run at Bonds’ record of 73 home runs.
Two years ago, it was unthinkable that a player would even challenge Roger Maris’ record of 61 homers in a season. Judge did the impossible that year, mashing 62 long balls. It wouldn’t be wise to bet against him breaking his own record and making history again.
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