Is Houston Astros Slugger Álvarez Better Than Aaron Judge?

Debate over MLB greatness of Houston Astros stars Yordan Álvarez and New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge continues as season rolls on.

Houston Astros slugger Yordan Álvarez is better in all aspects of the game than New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge.

Yes, Judge took home American League Player of the Month honors for May despite being injured to start the season.

But let’s look beyond the awards and accolades and focus on numbers alone.

These are the stats that pop out the most when comparing two of the greatest athletes currently playing Major League Baseball through the same number of at-bats:

Through 1,736 plate appearances, Álvarez has 441 hits, 112 home runs, 390 strikeouts and a .320 batting average with runners in scoring position.

Through the exact same 1,736 at-bats, Judge has 391 hits, 111 home runs, 548 strikeouts and a .256 batting average with runners in scoring position.

Based on these numbers alone (through games played on May 28), Álvarez is absolutely the better player.

Sure, they’re pretty much identical in home runs, but Álvarez is running away with hits, has way less swings and misses, and is hands-down the better batter when it comes to knocking in runs with teammates on base.

Álvarez also now leads the Majors this season in runs batted in (50) after belting a two-run blast in Friday night’s 6-2 Astros win over Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Angels.

Solely for comparison purposes, Judge has just 39 RBI in 2023.

Let the debate roll on, but numbers don’t lie.

Álvarez is better than Judge.

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