New York Yankees star Aaron Judge turned in a great performance on Wednesday in the team's 4-3 win over the Kansas City Royals, drawing praise from manager Aaron Boone, who said this was the most locked-in he has seen the slugger so far this year. Judge responded to that comment.

“We're getting there, we're getting there,” Aaron Judge said, via SNY Yankees. “If they leave it in the zone, try to take a good swing on it. Try to use the whole field. Yeah, we're getting there.”

Judge went 3-for-3 with a walk in the game. He had a double and eventually scored, and then added a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Yankees their 4-3 lead that held. It was Judge's seventh home run on the season, which tied him for second in MLB with Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners. The Athletics' Tyler Soderstrom is leading MLB with eight home runs.

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So far on the season, Judge has a staggering slash line of .409/.519/.803, giving him a 1.322 OPS, according to FanGraphs. Just 18 games into the year, Judge has 1.9 WAR and is on track for another historic season if he keeps up this pace.

Judge is known to downplay how “locked-in” he feels even when he is on a hot streak. There is seemingly always something to improve on for him. That is likely part of what has helped Judge somehow get better with age, as he has hit another level since the 2022 season.

The Yankees moved to 11-7 overall with the win and sit half of a game ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the American League East. They will head down to Florida to play the Tampa Bay Rays for four games at George M. Steinbrenner field starting on Thursday. It will be a unique series, as these will be Rays home games taking place at the Yankees' spring training site.