After a phenomenal and record-breaking season with the New York Yankees, Aaron Judge is taking home the American League (AL) MVP award.
While many felt that Los Angeles Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani would give Judge a good run for his money, that wasn't the case at all. Judge got 28 out of 30 first place votes for the landslide victory.
His 62 home runs to break Roger Maris' six-decade old record and set the American League single-season tally was definitely the highlight of his campaign. He batted .311/.425/.686 in 157 games and became just the fourth Major League player to hit at least 62 homers.
However, he did more than just that en route to his MVP campaign. Judge actually led the Majors in runs with 133 and RBIs with 131.
The 30-year-old is now the first Yankees outfielder to win AL MVP since Mickey Mantle did it in 1962. Aaron Judge previously received MVP votes in 2017, 2018 and 2021, with the closest he got to winning the award back in '17 when he ended up second to Jose Altuve.
As for Shohei Ohtani, he is just the ninth player in AL history to finish as a runner-up a year after winning the MVP. Many thought he could win it again after exceeding his 2021 performance when he was voted unanimous MVP, but Judge's historic display was too hard to ignore. Not to mention that the Yankees made it to the postseason with the slugger leading the way.
On the other hand, Paul Goldschmidt won the NL MVP award, with the results also announced Thursday.
Next up for Judge is his free agency. While the Yankees are favorites to keep him, other teams like the San Francisco Giants are said to be interested as well.
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