An amazing season for New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge just got even better. Judge surpassed Yankees legend Babe Ruth on Sunday in the most home runs hit by a Yankee before July 1, per USA Today. Judge has 31 homers this year, while Ruth had 30 in the 1928 and 1930 seasons.
The amazing feat capped an extremely impressive Sunday for the Bronx Bombers. New York powered past the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-1, and got Juan Soto back in the lineup as a last-minute addition. Soto had been out with a sore hand.
Judge finished the game for New York with two hits and two runs batted in. The Yankees are trying to fight their way out of a slump that has seen the team drop seven of their last 10 games. The New York club in pinstripes is now 54-32 on the year.
Judge's season for New York
Judge is having an excellent season for New York. The Yankees paired Judge with Soto this offseason, and the two seemed to have fed off of one another. Judge is hitting .316 on the year with the 31 homers to go with a whopping 82 RBIs.
Judge is on pace for a career high in RBIs and his 31 homers through 84 games are one ahead of where he was in 2022 when he set the American League records for home runs in a season. He has more runs batted in before July than he did in all of the 2023 campaign. His production has just been staggering.
The Yankees need him to keep producing. Juan Soto has been in and out of the lineup with injury. Anthony Rizzo has also been out hurt. Even top Yankees farm prospect Jasson Dominguez has been dealing with medical problems.
The club has seen a slump in recent weeks due to all the injury issues. The Yankees are now tied for first place in the American League East due to the recent skid. New York is in a virtual tie with Baltimore in the division heading into July, although the Orioles have a slightly better winning percentage.
What Babe Ruth was able to do in 1928 and 1930
It is incredible to see Judge surpass such an elite player in Babe Ruth. Ruth hit 30 homers for New York in 1928 and 1930 before July 1. He finished both of those seasons with more than 140 runs batted in. If Judge is able to match Ruth, it would mean a personal career high for the Yankee veteran.
Ruth finished the 1928 season with 54 home runs, while he slugged 49 in the 1930 campaign. Interestingly, Ruth's career-high season for homers was in 1927, when he hit 60.
1928 in particular was a special year for the Yankees. New York won the World Series that season. The franchise hasn't done that for 15 years, and Yankee fans are hopeful that this Judge feat is just one sign of some great things to come. Time will tell how truly special this year might be.
New York is in action again on Tuesday, starting a home series against the Cincinnati Reds.
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