The New York Yankees are 3-2 to start the season. Aaron Judge had a dominant series against the Milwaukee Brewers, hitting four homers and driving in 11 runs for the Yankees. On their recent Top 100 list, ESPN ranked the slugger fourth despite his AL MVP last season. When asking other players in the league for comment, one veteran crushed the list for Judge's placement.
“I like Bobby Witt [Jr.]'s skill set, and he did some great things last year,” Pirates star Andrew McCutchen said of the second-ranked player. “But what Judge did for a couple of years running, it's hard for me to put [Witt] above him.”
His teammate Tommy Pham agreed, “You've got Judge as the fourth-best player? Am I tripping here?” He continued, “Look at Judge's numbers. Judge can't be that low. With all due respect, everybody above him on the list is a great player — Mookie [Betts], Bobby, Ohtani is a unicorn. But Judge had a Barry Bonds season last year.”
By many measurements, Judge did have the greatest season ever by a right-handed hitter. He led the league with 58 homers and 144 RBIs and won his second American League MVP Award. Ohtani is ranked first, which is understandable, but Witt and Betts at two and three, respectively, appear to be causing the most problems.
Judge had that season last year for the Yankees despite a dismal April. He did not hit his fourth home run until April 24 last year and smoked number four before March ended this year. Maybe ESPN's Top 100 list gave the Yankees captain motivation to have a consistent season and go after his 62-homer record.
There are seven Yankees on the list, including Judge. Max Fried, Devin Williams, Jazz Chisholm Jr, Anthony Volpe, Carlos Rodon, and Cody Bellinger are all represented. Gerrit Cole is not on the list, as he is out for the year with an elbow injury.