Aaron Judge is having an MVP-caliber season for the New York Yankees and on track to have one of the all-time great power seasons in team history.
Judge, 30, hit his league-leading 21st home run on Saturday during the first inning of the Yankees’ 3-0 win over the Detroit Tigers. With that homer, he joined Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Luke Voit as just the fourth Yankee ever to record at least 21 homers through the first 53 games of a season.
Judge, the American League Player of the Month for May, is also ahead of the pace Mantle and Roger Maris set when Maris broke the Yankees’ single-season home run record with 61 in 1961.
Through 53 games that year, Maris had 20 homers and Mantle had 18. After Saturday, Judge is on track for 63 home runs, 126 RBIs and 183 hits.
The three-time All-Star is having arguably the best season of any player in MLB.
He currently leads the majors in home runs (21), slugging percentage (.689) and OPS (1.075), while leading the American League in runs scored (43). His 42 RBIs are tied for the fifth-most in MLB, and his 61 hits leave him in a four-way tie for ninth place. Judge also leads the majors with 133 total bases.
If Judge continues on this torrid pace for the entire season, he should have no problem eclipsing the Yankees’ pre-season contract extension offer.
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