Is there any correlation between the New York Yankees acquiring Juan Soto and Aaron Judge having a monster first half? The first-place Yankees have arguably the best two hitters in baseball hitting back-to-back in their lineup. That makes explaining why they have the best record in baseball a little easier.
Judge is the superstar of New York's stacked roster, but in his own words, he is not the motor that makes the Yankees offense run. Despite being the AL MVP favorite, with Soto a close second, Judge said that Soto and leadoff hitter Anthony Volpe are the key figures in the batting order.
Judge leads Major League Baseball in several hitting categories, including slugging percentage, OPS, home runs, RBIs and total bases. He also leads in fWAR and bWAR, making him the most valuable player in the league.
Soto on the other hand is fourth in both fWAR and bWAR. He leads the majors in on-base percentage and is a close second behind Judge in OPS.
Baseball writer Jon Heyman recently asked members of the Yankees which superstar outfielder was the MVP frontrunner. A lot of them refused to say, but a handful said Judge while one or two picked Soto.
Looking at the numbers it is hard to separate the two, but the Yankees and their fans are happy to have this debate if it means they’re winning ballgames at a consistent rate. Even better, this has to increase their odds of retaining Juan Soto past this season. The Yankees might have struck gold with a one-two punch of Soto and Judge.
Slugging duo leading Yankees in pennant chase
The Yankees took a risk trading for Juan Soto last winter. New York banked on the franchise being able to use the 2024 season as a means to convince the 25-year-old All-Star to sign a long-term contract extension rather than hit the open market in November.
The odds are that Soto still tests the market, but it would be foolish to think he's not interested in sticking around and hitting in front of Aaron Judge for the next decade. The two clicked immediately and together form the most daunting two-hitter stretch a pitcher can face.
Judge is in awe of his slugging partner and used his hypothetical MVP vote on the Yankees' No. 22.
“If he’s not the best hitter in the game he’s right up there,” Judge said, per Heyman. “He has incredible bat-to-ball skills. He has such a great eye that he’s not afraid to take it with two strikes, even against guys he hasn’t seen before. He doesn’t mind taking it to two strikes. Two strikes, 3-2, 0-0, the guy’s a great hitter.”
Teammates haven’t finished one-two in MVP voting since Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds did it in 2000 for the NL MVP award. It hasn’t happened in the American League since 1983.
There is still more than half the season left to be played but there's enough sample size to pick out the contenders and pretenders for award races. There will be fringe players who teeter off in the second half and names nowhere near being mentioned now set to explode after the All-Star break.
Some names will stick around until the finalists are announced. Aaron Judge and Juan Soto have a great chance to be among those finalists. If they are, that likely means the Yankees are in contention for a championship.
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