Aaron Judge is one side of probably the strongest current one-two punch in Major League Baseball; Judge and Juan Soto have carried the New York Yankees’ offence all season. There is no better example of this than how the tandem destroyed the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday night their route to an 8-1 victory, regaining the AL East lead for the time being.
Judge, in particular, has elevated his game significantly as the competition for the division title between them and the Baltimore Orioles heats up. The 32-year-old outfielder has been a force at the plate, hitting two home runs and driving in three during the Yankees’ critical victory over the current AL Central leader.
In doing so, Aaron Judge’s numbers now appear even better than they did in his historic 2022 season, when he broke Roger Maris’ longstanding record for most home runs in a single season for an American League player. According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Yankees star’s 2024 OPS of 1.187 through 127 games is significantly higher than his 2022 OPS of 1.057, with no one “slugging this high in a full season” since Ted Williams in 1957.
The only exception is that Judge hit two more home runs (49) in the same amount of games two seasons ago as he does today (47). But that’s not a really egregious offence. Judge continues to demonstrate his status as the most feared hitter in the whole MLB; the question now is whether he will receive votes once more, with the AL MVP battle between him and Bobby Witt Jr. certain to be the talk of the town for the next few months.
Aaron Judge and Juan Soto—Shaq and Kobe for the Yankees.
The Guardians witnessed directly how damaging Aaron Judge and Juan Soto are and have been for the Yankees in 2024. Judge’s two home runs and capacity to improve on his record 2022 campaign will undoubtedly make headlines, but Soto’s performance against the Guardians should also receive recognition.
Soto started his destruction of the Guardians in the first inning, smashing a two-run home run off Joey Cantillo. Then, after walking in his second plate appearance of the game, he cleared the bases with a double, giving him five RBIs for the night.
It’s incredible how much effort Judge and Soto have done this season to support an otherwise erratic Yankees offence. This season, the two had a combined WAR of 16.2 heading into their Thursday night game against the Guardians. To put it in perspective, the Yankees’ other qualified hitters (Anthony Volpe, Gleyber Torres, and Alex Verdugo) have a collective WAR of 3.8, with Volpe accounting for 3.2 of that.
The good news is that certain hitters have stepped up for the Yankees. Jazz Chisholm Jr. has lived up to expectations, despite the fact that he is currently injured. Austin Wells has also been a revelation. If New York is to end its 15-year World Series drought, additional contributors must emerge.
