Aaron Judge and Juan Soto have been carrying the New York Yankees’ offense all season long; Judge and Soto have been one half of arguably the best current one-two punch in the MLB. This is best illustrated by the way the pair destroyed the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday night, winning 8-1—a victory that restores them for the time being the lead in the AL East.
With the Baltimore Orioles and them competing for the division crown, Judge, in particular, has significantly improved his game. During the Yankees’ critical victory against the current AL Central leader, the 32-year-old outfielder has been a prominent presence on the plate, scoring two home runs and driving in three.
Accordingly, Aaron Judge’s stats are now even more comparable to his remarkable 2022 campaign, which was the season in which he broke Roger Maris’ longstanding record for the number of home runs in a single season for an AL player. According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Yankees star’s 2024 OPS of 1.187 through 127 games surpasses his OPS of 1.057 through 127 games in 2022. Since 1957, no one has “slugged this high in a full season.”
Of course, the one caveat is that Judge had scored two more home runs (49) in the same number of games two seasons prior than he is currently doing (47). It’s not even an offense in the first place, but that is not too egregious of an offense. While Judge maintains his position as the most feared hitter in the MLB, the question now is whether or not he will once again win voters’ favor, as Bobby Witt Jr. and him will be the talk of the town for the coming months.
