Yankees' Aaron Judge Strengthens MVP Case

When Judge was asked about his homers, he gave the usual answer, deflecting praise from himself and giving it to others.

"I was just happy to get those runs for Max," he said. "It felt good to get that and get it in a win, and keep that momentum going."

When asked again about his accolades, Judge still had little to say.

"If you sit back and admire it, then you're going to stop your momentum."

Judge has made excellence the standard, and with yet another MVP level season nearly complete, he is writing his name in with the greats, whether he wants to admit it or not.

His 46 mult-home run games are tied for second in Yankees history with Mickey Mantle. Judge also became the fourth player in MLB history to have four 50-home run seasons. The others are Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa. When the YES postgame show came on the air, Jack Curry added to that, mentioning that Judge is the only player to do it in his first ten seasons.

Since the year 2000, there have been six instances where a player has had a wRC+ of over 200. Barry Bonds has done it four times, and Judge has done it twice. This season, Judge has a 202 wRC+.

Only a handful of players have hit so prolifically. Before Judge and Bonds, Mark McGwire hit for over a 200 wRC+ in 1998. Frank Thomas and Jeff Bagwell did it in 1994. Before them, you have to go back to Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams in 1957.

Not only did Judge's blasts serve his individual needs as far as his MVP candidacy and overall Cooperstown resumè goes, but if the Yankees want to keep those division hopes alive, they'll need more of this. Up north, as Judge put on another show with his bat, the Toronto Blue Jays' collapse continued. A 7-1 loss narrowed the gap in the division with just five games left.

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