Aaron Judge Shows Why He is the Game's Best

With Trout spending the last few years on the shelf more than he's been on the field, Judge has essentially taken up the mantle as the game's best hitter. Judge, who has collected three MVPs of his own since 2022, has made feats such as hitting 50 home runs look easy.

After the game, Judge talked about Trout. He gave high praise to the Angels centerfielder.

"I was going to talk some smack to him after the one he hit all the way to the warning track," Judge said, according to the Associated Press. "But I didn't get a chance to, and then he answers right back with two big homers for him. You put that guy in a clutch situation, a big moment, and he's going to show up every single time, so it's fun going back and forth with a guy like that, especially in New York and the Bronx."

Judge in 2026

Judge has scuffled a bit in the early part of 2026, but his two-homer night was more reminiscent of what the Yankees have been used to since that initial MVP season, where he surpassed Roger Maris' American League home run record. If this is who the Yankees are getting from here on out, they'll be hard-pressed to find themselves in another prolonged losing streak like the one they snapped against the Angels.

Coming into the game, Judge was hitting .218/.328/.455 with a 126 wRC+. Those numbers took a big jump after those two homers. He's now hitting .233/.333/.550 with a 150 wRC+.

Not only was that performance huge for the Yankees, but it also helped him clear another milestone. That was Judge's 47th multihomer game. He passed Mickey Mantle for the second-most in the team's history. Babe Ruth is first with 68.

"Hopefully, we can keep that list growing," Judge said of the milestone, according to MLB.com's Matthew Ritchie. "I've played a lot of games here, and to be surrounded by some greats like that is special, but I'm just happy to do stuff like that in a win."

Make sure to bookmark Yankees On SI to get all your daily New York Yankees news, interviews, breakdowns and more!