Yankees' Aaron Judge having season for the ages

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is no stranger to impressive performances.

A six-time All-Star and two-time American League MVP, Judge has carved his name into the history books. He belted an AL record 62 home runs in 2022 and is one of just 32 players to ever hit at least 50 homers in a season. Judge just missed hitting for the Triple Crown in 2024 as he led the majors in home runs (58) and RBI (144) while finishing third with a .322 batting average, 10 points behind Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. for the batting title.

While Judge has been impressive throughout his career, he may be in the midst of his best season to date. He entered Friday with a .392/.488/.776 batting line in his 299 plate appearances, hitting 25 homers and 17 doubles. Judge leads the majors in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging, OPS (1.264), hits (98), total bases (194) and fWAR (5.9). 

His dominance goes deeper than the numbers. Judge has the best OPS in baseball by a whopping 256 points ahead of second-place Shohei Ohtani (1.008). His 5.9 fWAR is 1.9 WAR ahead of Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh (4.0 fWAR) in second. 

Judge is also on pace for one of the most dominant seasons in major league history. As noted by the MLB account on X, Judge is on pace for 16.7 fWAR, which would annihilate the record set by Yankees legend Babe Ruth (14.7 fWAR) in 1923. He is on pace for his second 60 home run season and 237 hits, the latter would make him the first player since Mariners Hall of Fame outfielder Ichiro Suzuki in 2007 to reach the 235 hit plateau in a season. 

Judge is in the midst of what could be a career year. His 2025 performance could cement his place, not only in major league history, but in Cooperstown as well.