Yankees' Aaron Judge is chasing home run history again. We compare 2024 to 2022
Pete CalderaOn a familiar home run pace, Aaron Judge reached another milestone on Wednesday night.
His MLB-leading 30th homer of the year, a two-run shot at Citi Field, was also career home run No. 287, tying him with Bernie Williams for seventh place in Yankees’ history.
“It’s great…but nothing I’m really focused on,’’ said Judge, after driving in seven of the Yankees’ nine runs during a two-game Subway Series sweep by the Mets.
“We’ve got a season a head of us, a lot of ballgames ahead of us,’’ said Judge, having already shifted his attention to Thursday night’s opener of a four-game series at Toronto.
The Yankees had just lost for the eighth time in their last 10 games, clinging to a one-game AL East lead, and lately their offense has been a vast desert from the cleanup spot to No. 9 after Judge.
“We’ve just got to keep showing up, keep working and we’ll be where we want to be,’’ said Judge, providing an optimistic take while wearing a classic No. 2 Derek Jeter road Yankees jersey.
Comparing Aaron Judge's 2024 season to 2022
Since May 3, the current Yankees’ captain has been on a sensational run, producing at an MVP pace, with echoes of his AL record 62-homer season.
Judge is at the same point he was in 2022 – 80 games played out of 82 team games – with 30 home runs, and his overall stats are even better than that MVP season.
Judge through 80 games in 2022:
Plate appearances: 349
At-bats: 303
Runs: 65
Hits: 87
Doubles: 13
Triples: 0
Home runs: 30
RBI: 64
Walks: 40
Batting average: .287
OPS: .993
Judge through 80 games in 2024:
Plate appearances: 352
At-bats: 285
Runs: 61
Hits: 88
Doubles: 23
Triples: 1
Home runs: 30
RBI: 77
Walks: 60
Batting average: .309
OPS: 1.145
'Hard to wrap your brain around': Aaron Judge's 2024 stats
Consider that Judge was batting .197 with six homers through his first 33 games, and his stats are even more remarkable.
Plus, Judge hasn't missed a beat since taking a fastball off his left hand on June 18, costing him a game and putting Yankees Universe in a mild panic until X-rays and CT scan came back negative.
“It’s hard to wrap your brain around (as to) what a level he’s playing at,’’ said manager Aaron Boone. “Especially this time of the game when it’s really hard to hit.’’
Boone referenced the AL average OPS is .703 and Judge is even 100 points ahead of the great Shohei Ohtani, at 1.045 through Wednesday.
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“And that’s after a rough April,’’ said Boone. “It’s just really impressive, his knowledge of the strike zone. And when he gets it off the barrel, it goes over the fence.’’
Judge has been protected Soto, batting second in the lineup, but the Yankees’ cleanup hitters lately after Judge have been lacking.
Alex Verdugo was in a 2-for-33 slide before two singles Wednesday night, while the two cleanup hitters in the Subway Series were Gleyber Torres (2-for-29 and benched since Wednesday) and JD Davis, who was recently designated for assignment by the Oakland Athletics.
If those trends continue, Judge might expect to see fewer strikes.
But there’s that universal feeling that “every time he steps up, something good is going to happen,’’ said Soto, who sees his job as getting on base for Judge.
According to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, Judge is the ninth player in MLB history to reach 30 home runs in 80 games multiple times, joining Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, Ken Griffey Jr., Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa and Jose Canseco.
The stat that doubtless carries more meaning for Judge is his league-leading 20 go-ahead RBI, at a time when the Yankees are facing their most difficult stretch.
“You never want to lose back-to-back like that, especially against a team here in New York,’’ Judge said after the Mets handed the Yanks their fourth straight series loss.
“But you’ve got to show up tomorrow. That’s the beauty of this game, we have an opportunity to rewrite the script the next day.’’