Expert assesses how much Juan Soto's 2024 success is owed to Aaron Judge

Is it true that Juan Soto's incredible 2024 campaign was because Aaron Judge was hitting behind him?

Jul 19, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Juan Soto (22) is greeted by designated hitter Aaron Judge (99) after scoring in the fourth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

The baseball community has been buzzing about what New York Mets slugger Juan Soto said about not having former Yankees teammate and 2024 AL MVP Aaron Judge hitting behind him during an April 14 interview with Mike Puma of the New York Post.

“It’s definitely different,” Soto said when asked about last season compared to this year. “I had the best hitter in baseball hitting behind me. I was getting more attacked and more pitches in the strike zone, less intentional walks and things like that. I was pitched differently last year.”

New York Post MLB insider Jon Heyman delivered his opinion on this during a Bleacher Report live show on April 17, saying, "He clearly misses Aaron Judge batting behind him. And I agree with him. He's the best hitter in baseball, and that certainly was an advantage to his Yankees tenure... I think there's some validity to what Juan Soto said."

However, while Bleacher Report's Zachary D. Rymer seems to agree with Heyman's sentiment, he still slapped a "Fiction" label on the question of "Was Aaron Judge the Key to Juan Soto's 2024 Explosion?" in an April 22 article.

"Frankly, a $765 million player should not be whining about lineup protection, much less calling someone else the 'best hitter in baseball,'" Rymer wrote.

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"Optics aside, there is a kernel of truth to what Soto said. He's already been walked intentionally as many times as he did throughout all of 2024, and his rate of pitches in the strike zone is indeed down.

"It's not out of bounds to look back on the .989 OPS and career-high 41 homers that Soto posted in 2024 and wonder if it was all because of Judge's protection. And whereas Soto has a modest .785 OPS in 2025, Judge is doing fine with a 1.188 OPS," he continued.

Rymer concluded with, "All the same, let's pump the brakes a little. April is typically Soto's least productive month, and key performance indicators like his walk rate (17.0 percent) and exit velocity (93.0 mph) are about where they should be. He'll more than likely be fine."

In other words, Rymer is saying that while having Judge behind him was an obvious benefit, Soto will be just fine once he finds his normal stroke in 2025.

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