New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge is having another MVP season. He is incredibly on a pace to exceed the American League most valuable player campaign he had a season ago. While the Yankees had played just 47 games and had 115 remaining in the 162 game Major League Baseball schedule when they hosted the Texas Rangers in the Bronx on Tuesday, Judge has been far and away the best hitter in the sport.
He led the entire major leagues in hits (71), batting average (.401) and on-base percentage (.488), was third in home runs (15), second in runs batted in (41) and tied for second in walks (30). Ted Williams was the last player to finish the regular season with a batting average of .400 or better when he logged .406 in 1941 with the Boston Red Sox when the regular season was 154 games.
Judge is mostly noted for his home run prowess. He set the American League record in 2022 with 62. However, his batting average as of Tuesday was 100 points higher than his career number of .293. His average of .322 last year was third highest in the league and the highest of his career. This could be the beginning of Judge’s evolution into a complete hitter, combining power and consistency.
His quest for a 400 average has been met with some skepticism. Many feel he strikes out too many times (20% of his at-bats) to reach the goal. Usually home run hitters like Judge don’t hit for a high average, making this an even bigger challenge for him. Power hitters face a disadvantage attempting to hit for average in that teams usually walk them to get to the next hitter. While Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and left fielder Cody Bellinger, who usually hit behind Judge, are having solid seasons, they’ll need to continue their production. Any drop off could result in Judge getting fewer pitches to hit and derail his attempt for the magic number.
In 1994, former Yankees outfielder Paul O’Neill, who won four World Series titles with the franchise (1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000), hit over .400 until dropping below the hallowed mark on June 17, said Judge shouldn’t look at that number as a measure of lofty production.
“You never want to put yourself, as a player, in a position where you feel like you didn’t have the year you wanted to have because you dropped below .400,” O’Neill said to the media gathered at Yankee Stadium for the subway series versus the Mets. “I mean, come on.”
Playing with Juan Soto — who is now with the Mets — in the Yankees lineup last season, helped Judge become a more aggressive hitter. Judge had a .625 average on the first pitch thrown in his at-bats through mid-May. This change and his overall improvement as a hitter will determine if his quest for immortality materializes.