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Former Mets GM Sends Clear Aaron Judge Message After Latest Win

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Zach Kaplan | Last updated Jun 13, 2025 3:45 PM ET

Aaron Judge was out of the Yankees lineup on Thursday for the first time in 67 games this season, which was a well-deserved break for arguably the game's best hitter,.

Judge struck out in a pinch-hit appearance in the 8th inning of the Yankees' 1-0 win against the Royals, but for the most part it was a full day off for the captain.

On Wednesday, Judge blasted a 413-foot home run, his 25th of the season, to put the Yankees up 6-0 on the Royals. He's currently on pace for 60 home runs in 2025.

After another strong series, one former MLB general manager made a spicy take on Judge as the league reckons with yet another incredible start.

Steve Phillips, who was the general manager of the New York Mets from 1997 to 2003, and now serves as the host of the MLB Network show 'Leadoff Spot', claimed that Judge is the greatest Yankee hitter ever.

"You look at Ruth, you look at Maris, I would make the case that Aaron Judge is the best Yankee hitter ever," Phillips said.

One key stat he discussed was that Judge has faced 156 pitchers already in 2025, while Maris and Ruth combined faced 165 pitchers in their historically great 1961 and 1927 seasons.

Even more than that, Judge has faced 78 of those 156 pitchers only once, while Maris and Ruth combined faced 21 pitchers only one time.

What Phillips argues is that in today's game, the truly great hitters like Judge can't get in a rhythm with pitchers having faced them several times, unlike Yankee greats like Maris and Ruth.

It's a new argument by a pundit as opposed to the traditional side-by-side stats which don't take into account the differences in eras of baseball.

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

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