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It has been a great start to the 2025 MLB season for the New York Yankees as they currently sit near the top of the American League standings.
New York currently holds a 23-17 record which has them sitting at the top of the AL East standings, two games ahead of the Boston Red Sox.
The Yankees entered the season with a chip on their shoulder after losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series last season and they are looking like a championship contender once again.
Of course, most of the Yankees’ success this season has come from the torrid bat of their star outfielder Aaron Judge as he has had a historic start to the season.
This season, the 33-year-old slugger has a .409 batting average, .494 OBP, 1.274 OPS to go along with 14 home runs and 39 RBIs.
Judge currently leads the entire MLB in average, OBP, OPS, SLG, hits, home runs and RBIs which has him as the clear favorite to win his third AL MVP award this season.
With Judge’s hot start, The Athletic’s Jayson Stark made a bold claim about the Yankees power hitter on MLB Network on Monday.
“If you look at the numbers... he's the greatest right-handed hitter of the last 100 years,” Stark said about Judge.
"If you look at the numbers... he's the greatest right-handed hitter of the last 100 years."
— MLB Now (@MLBNow) May 12, 2025
- @jaysonst on Aaron Judge https://t.co/YiQKRH77UD pic.twitter.com/V4iDkTiZ9q
This is a bold statement by Stark and one that has received backlash from fans, but Judge has made a case for himself.
Of course, there have been a ton of great right-handed hitters in the last 100 years in the MLB including Albert Pujols, Roberto Clemente, Frank Thomas and Hank Aaron to name a few, but Judge has made a case for himself on the all-time list.
Despite this, Judge still has some work to do throughout the remainder of his career to become arguably the best right-handed hitters of all time but if he can close out his career strong and possibly bring a championship back to New York, he may put himself in the conversation.
More must-reads:
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- The 'Active 20-home run MLB seasons' quiz
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Former Yankees Closer Turns Career Around with Rival Club
Rebounding from adversity is not an easy thing to do, but it seems that a former New York Yankees powerhouse pitcher has done it. Ex-Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman has turned his career around completely after a bad ending in New York. The “Cuban Missile” was once seen to be a specimen of a reliever until mental and physical struggles prevailed. When discussing adversity, Chapman went through it from the start. Being a Cuban national, his baseball career was already uncertain. Chapman defected from Cuba and made his way to the United States, where he became a star with the Cincinnati Reds. The big lefty’s adversities continued, as he was faced with a severe injury after being hit in the head with a line drive back to the mound. He then signed a huge deal with the Yankees in 2015 and became a superstar. The left-hander spent seven total seasons with the Yankees in two stints. Some were memorable, some were forgettable. Chapman’s last few seasons in the Bronx were not ones to remember. It is now 2025, and he is reborn as a trustworthy closer in Boston. From the Bronx to Boston: Aroldis Chapman’s Career Resurgence Aroldis Chapman was a three-time All-Star with the Yankees. His role as a closer was solidified, and in all three of those All-Star seasons, Chapman recorded 30-plus saves. Where did things go downhill? Well, in two instances: when hitters figured out his pitch repertoire, and when his maturity got in the way of his performance. Chapman was a rocket fastballer, which is why he was labelled a “missile.” He got up to 102 mph, and stayed almost consistently in the triple-digits. At one point, it seemed that his sole reliance was on his velocity, which didn’t last long. 102 mph in was 111 mph out, if caught flat in the zone, which was typically the case. In 2021 and 2024, his hard-hit percentage was over 40%. Command was also an issue for the left-hander, as wild pitches and bases-on-balls were consistent. Chapman maintained a walk percentage above 14% for five seasons dating back to 2018. He was not only with the Yankees in this span, but also spent time with the Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals, and Pittsburgh Pirates. Chapman’s maturity was testing the Yankees organization. The structured environment was breached many times by immature and selfish decisions by Chapman. The closer got a tattoo in-season, which caused an infection, disallowing his activity. He was also defiant, deciding to skip mandatory team workouts based on his own thought process. Chapman was later disregarded and put up on the trade market. Fast forward to the present day, where Chapman closes for the Boston Red Sox, and has made changes. Chapman’s Present-Day Self is Valuable Now 37 years of age, Chapman’s overall character has leveled out to be a competitor, good teammate, and effective closer. He has been kept in line by a strict Red Sox environment. His performance has followed suit as well. From 2018 to 2024, Chapman’s walk rate averaged around 14%. In 2025, he currently holds a 7% rate, slashing that average in half. He maintains his velocity, increasing up to 105 mph and clocking consistently at 103 mph. Age has not ruined this feature. Chapman has improved his repertoire, commanding the fastball better, staying in and out of the zone. He also incorporated a splitter and is utilizing his sinker and slider more effectively. Chapman currently holds a 1.04 ERA with 26 saves, 74 strikeouts, 14 walks, and a 4-2 record in 52 innings pitched. The southpaw closer has revived his profile and is in the running for a postseason opportunity on the dark side (for Yankees fans, anyway) of the American League East.
Former NFL QB shares harsh truth about Browns' Shedeur Sanders
Some previously accused Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski of sabotaging the development of rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders as Stefanski kept Sanders buried on the depth chart throughout the summer. A day after it was learned that Cleveland had agreed to trade Kenny Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders for a 2026 fifth-round draft pick, Stefanski confirmed that Sanders will enter the Week 1 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 7 as the Browns' QB3 behind starter Joe Flacco and fellow first-year pro Dillon Gabriel. During a recent chat with Jason Reid of Andscape, former NFL quarterback Akili Smith explained that the tape shows Sanders is behind as it pertains to playing the sport's most important position at the highest level. "If you take some time and break down the tape, and you understand what concepts they’re running, you see that Dillon Gabriel is ahead of Shedeur," Smith said. "No one who looks at the tape of those two and understands what they’re looking at could see it any other way. Gabriel is ahead of him, and a big thing is pocket presence. Shedeur took a sack in [the last preseason] game…it was ridiculous. You had all these people [on social media] blaming the line. He’s dropping back [too far]. He had to step up in the pocket or throw the ball away. It’s one or the other." Sanders took five sacks and completed just 3-of-6 passes for 14 yards in Cleveland's preseason finale versus the Los Angeles Rams on Aug. 23. Meanwhile, Gabriel connected on 12-of-19 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown in that contest. Smith is among those who believe Gabriel’s tape from August "is just better" than what Sanders produced. Sanders took an FBS-high 94 sacks over his final two college seasons before he fell to the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. In the eyes of some, his play against the Rams showed that it will take time for him to unlearn certain bad habits he picked up over the years. "Anyone who’s got such a long way to go has to keep his nose clean, not turn on the organization and keep working," Smith added. "He has to put everything he has into continuing to get better each day. And that way, even if it doesn’t happen in Cleveland, you’re still giving yourself a chance. You’d show other teams that you want this. You’d show how much it means to you. Then maybe it happens somewhere else." The Browns trading Pickett indicates they're dedicated to continuing their development of Sanders through at least the 2025 season. That said, the potential return of Deshaun Watson is looming over Sanders' status as Flacco prepares to start against Cincinnati.
Cowboys land three-time Pro Bowler in Micah Parsons trade
It may be no consolation to Dallas Cowboys fans, but their team did land an outstanding defensive player as part of the stunning blockbuster that sent Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers on Thursday. The Cowboys have traded Parsons to the Packers in exchange for a pair of first-round draft picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark. While Clark is nowhere near the same caliber player as Parsons, he has been one of the top players at his position in the NFL for several years now. Clark spent nine seasons with the Packers after they drafted him in the first round out of UCLA in 2016. He became a full-time starter in 2017 and has started every game in which he has played since. Clark started all 17 games for Green Bay the past three seasons and has missed just one game in the last four years. He had a career-high 7.5 sacks and nine tackles for loss in 2023, which is when he made his third and most recent Pro Bowl. The 6-foot-3, 314-pound tackle also made the Pro Bowl in 2019 and 2021. Almost all Cowboys fans would have preferred for their team to work out a long-term extension with Parsons. The tension between the two sides simply escalated to the point where a divorce became the most viable option. If the Cowboys felt they had no choice but to trade Parsons, they at least seem to have maximized the return. The future first-round picks will give them flexibility to build through trades and/or the draft. It should also soften the blow — even if only slightly — that they landed a 29-year-old player who has played like an elite defensive tackle throughout much of his career.
Nebraska holds off Cincinnati thanks to late interception
Malcolm Hartzog Jr. made an acrobatic one-hand interception in the end zone with 34 seconds remaining, sealing Nebraska's 20-17 win over Cincinnati on Thursday in Kansas City. The game was the season opener for both teams. The Bearcats got the ball with 1:36 left at their own 9-yard line after a Nebraska punt. Quarterback Brendan Sorsby guided Cincinnati to the Cornhuskers 33-yard line before Hartzog's clinching pick. It was a tight game the entire night, with the teams relying on methodical approaches to move the ball. Cornhuskers quarterback Dylan Raiola was accurate and decisive throughout the night, throwing for 243 yards and two touchdowns while completing 33 of his 42 passes. Five Cornhuskers had at least five receptions, with running back Emmett Johnson leading the way with seven receptions. Nyziah Hunter topped the team with 65 receiving yards and added a touchdown grab among his six catches. Nebraska's secondary held Sorsby in check. He had just 20 passing yards at halftime and then threw for a meager four yards in the third quarter. He finished 13-of-25 for 69 yards. However, with the passing lanes not open, Sorsby used his legs to move the Bearcats down the field in the second half. Cincinnati's second-year quarterback led the team in rushing with 96 yards on 13 attempts and scored both of his touchdowns on the ground in the second half. After not running a single play in the red zone in the first half, the Bearcats took two of their first three drives in the second half all the way to the end zone for touchdowns. Those two drives covered 57 and 75 yards. Cincinnati, though, has now lost six straight games dating back to last season and are now 8-17 with Scott Satterfield as the head coach.
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