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Aaron Judge Closing in on 9-Time World Series Champion Despite Yankees’ Freefall

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jake Elman | Last updated Jul 2, 2025 11:30 AM ET

New York Yankees fans have spent decades universally agreeing that the club's Mount Rushmore is as follows: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle.

It's still way, way too early to argue that Aaron Judge should replace any of those four, especially given the two-time AL MVP's lack of championships. However, Judge is quickly closing in on DiMaggio in another category: home runs.

As of July 2, Judge has mashed 345 home runs in a Yankees uniform. He's only seven away from passing Alex Rodriguez, and he's well on pace to match Yogi Berra's 358 before the season ends.

DiMaggio, a nine-time World Series champion, hit 361 homers over 13 years with the Yankees. He mashed at least 30 homers in seven of those seasons, including a career-high 46 in 1937.

Only three players have more homers in a Yankees uniform, and none should be surprising. Ruth hit 659 of his 714 homers with the Yankees, while Mantle (536) and Gehrig (493) only wore the pinstripes. You can do the math from there.

Can Judge hit another 17 home runs this season? We certainly think so, even after the slumping Yankees lost again on Tuesday night. The Yankees are only 13-17 since May 30, and their 6 1/2-game AL East lead is down to a single game.

It's been a tough few weeks for Judge, who is hitting just .222 over his last 18 games. More importantly, the Yankees are 6-12 across that stretch, raising serious concerns about their ability to not only win the division but secure their second straight pennant.

The Yankees need one of Judge's trademark hot streaks, and badly. If the seven-time All-Star gets back into a groove, we'll see if the Yankees can take full advantage and right the ship before it's too late.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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