Aaron Judge is having a better season than his MVP year

Judge had another monster performance during the Yankees' 6-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on "Sunday Night Baseball," going 3-for-4 with a double, home run and two RBI.

Following a slow April, No. 99 had a historically good May and has continued with a red-hot start to June. Judge is leading MLB in home runs, total bases (168), walks (55), on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS (1.139) and wins above replacement (WAR) (5.0).

The five-time All-Star has had help from outfielder Juan Soto and shortstop Anthony Volpe among others, but the former is battling a forearm injury and Judge is more than making up for his teammate's absence. 

Nearing the halfway point of the campaign, Judge has to be considered the front-runner for his second AL MVP Award, especially with New York's place in the standings.

Despite dropping two of three at home against the Dodgers, the Yankees enter Monday with the best record in the junior circuit (46-21) and trailing only the Philadelphia Phillies (45-20) for the top mark in MLB. 

New York is also tied with Los Angeles and the Baltimore Orioles for the second-most runs scored (331) in baseball — just one behind the Philadelphia Phillies — and leads the sport in both fewest runs allowed (220) and run differential (+111).

The Yankees' 2022 season started 11 days later than the 2024 version, so they entered June 10 having played nine more games. 

The Bronx Bombers were 50-17 through 67 contests in 2022 and held a 12-game lead in the AL East. New York would end up winning the division at 99-63 and finishing seven games ahead of the second-place Toronto Blue Jays but were swept in the ALCS by the Houston Astros.

Judge ended the year by breaking former Yankees great Roger Maris' 61-year-old AL record of 61 home runs in a single season, finishing with 62.