Yankees' Aaron Judge Compared To Slugging Legend

It's Aaron Judge's world and we're just living in it. The New York Yankees right fielder continued his assault on the record books Sunday with two home runs in the 12-5 win over the Athletics. In doing so he passed Lou Gehrig for the most multi-homer games in team history, according to MLB.com's Sarah Langs. With 44 multi-homer games, Judge is two behind Mickey Mantle and 24 behind Babe Ruth.

Judge enters play Monday leading the majors in batting average (.356), on-base percentage (.458), slugging percentage (.722) and OPS (1.180), all of which are career highs.

His 30 home runs are second in MLB only to Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh (32). Judge's 67 RBIs are second in the American League, with Raleigh (69) setting the pace. As you can see, the idea of Judge winning a Triple Crown is very much in play.

So at what point do pitchers start giving Judge the Barry Bonds treatment? That's what The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal was wondering Monday. "In Bonds’ most spectacular four-year span, 2001 to ‘04, he averaged 71 intentional walks, including his major-league record 120 in ’04," Rosenthal wrote. "Judge is on pace for 35 intentional walks. His overall walk rate entering Sunday (15.1 percent) was his lowest since 2021, and ranked seventh in the majors."

Comparing Bonds and Judge might seem ill-conceived given they bat from different sides of the plate. Plus there are those rumors about the Giants slugger allegedly using performance-enhancing drugs. But Yankees bench coach Brad Ausmus, who played against Bonds, thinks it's a conversation worth having.

“Barry knew exactly when it was on the plate, when it was too high, when it was too in. Judge is very, very similar to that,” Ausmus said, per Rosenthal. “I didn’t realize how much he controlled the strike zone. He really, really controls it. And as good as he was last year, he’s better at it this year.”

However Judge isn't buying the comparison. "They’re still giving me a couple of pitches to hit per night. He would get one pitch a series and hit it to the moon,” Judge said, according to Rosenthal. “I’m not on that level yet. Hopefully one day. But he’s the greatest of all time. I can’t compete with him.”

Judge and the Yankees close out June on Monday when they open a four-game series in Toronto against the Blue Jays, who are in third place in the American League East, three games behind the first-place Yankees.

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

• Yankees Among Best Fits for Top Available Reliever
• Big Payday Awaits Former Yankees Prospect
• Prime Yankees Trade Target Injured: How Serious?
• Insider IDs Yankees Trade Deadline Priority, Possible Targets
• Yankees Fit Rockies Most Interesting Trade Candidate