The New York Yankees are getting hot at the right time, winning six of their last seven games. And a scorching-hot Aaron Judge is a big reason why the team is holding its own against the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East. Judge is having an all-time great power-hitting season and over the last seven games he’s slashing .500/.613/.1.042 with five home runs, 11 RBI, 10 runs scored and a 22.6 percent walk rate.
Those eye-popping numbers caught Yankees’ pitcher Carlos Rodon’s attention and he couldn’t help but gush over Judge. “He’s the best hitter in the game. As a fan, it’s like, ‘He’s probably going to hit a home run or walk’ … It’s a must-watch every at-bat, that’s for sure,” Rodon said per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch on X.
Over the last two games, Judge has tormented Blue Jays pitchers, racking up two home runs, four RBI, three runs scored and three walks. The onslaught got so bad that, after a first inning two-run homer, Blue Jays’ manager John Schneider opted to walk Judge with the bases empty in the second inning of the game – something that hasn’t been done in 52 years.
The Yankees’ Aaron Judge is having an historic offensive season
On the season, Judge leads the majors in WAR (7.6), home runs (41) and RBI (103). The Yankees’ All-Star is also tops in baseball in on-base percentage, slugging, OPS, OPS+ and total bases and he’s fourth in runs with 87.
While Judge is the frontrunner for the AL MVP award, the National League’s best hitter Shohei Ohtani has been putting on a power show of his own in 2024. The Yankees’ bruiser tops Ohtani in just about every offensive statistic and Judge has played 68 games in center field and 79 games total in the outfield this season while Ohtani has featured exclusively at DH as he recovers from elbow surgery. Still, the two-time MVP winner has been incredible, producing 5.9 WAR so far as a DH.
Ohtani leads the National League in home runs (33), runs scored (84), batting average (.308), on-base percentage (.398), slugging (.630), OPS (1.028), OPS+ (187) and total bases (264). He’s led his Los Angeles Dodgers to a four game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West entering play on Saturday and he’s on pace to smash the WAR record for a designated hitter and likely to become the first-ever DH to win MVP.
Still, Rodon would take Judge as baseball’s best hitter. The stats would agree. But if both men win the Most Valuable Player award for their leagues, Ohtani would still have the edge in total MVPs 3-2 over Judge.
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