New York Yankees Superstar Aaron Judge in Legendary Company With Historic Start

New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge has ascended to a historic level of greatness.

Apr 12, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) reacts after catching a pop fly against the San Francisco Giants during the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium. / Tom Horak-Imagn Images

Just when New York Yankees fans think Aaron Judge can't possibly get any better, he somehow finds a way.

Coming off a historic offensive season and a unanimous AL MVP award in 2024, Judge is having an even better campaign in 2025. Entering Thursday's series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays, he's batting an absurd .409/.519/.803 (279 OPS+) with seven homers, 21 RBI, 20 runs and 1.6 WAR in 18 games.

If he keeps it up, Judge will certainly win his third MVP award and perhaps even the Triple Crown.

With such jaw-dropping numbers, the 32-year-old slugger is off to a historic start. Since RBI became an official statistic in 1920, he's only the sixth player in MLB history with at least 20 runs and 20 RBI through his team's first 18 games.

And that's not all. After going 3-for-3 with a homer against the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday, Judge raised his career OPS+ to 175. That's tied with Mickey Mantle for the sixth-highest in MLB history through a player's age-33 season (min. 3,500 plate appearances), behind only legendary hitters Babe Ruth (213), Ted Williams (190), Lou Gehrig (184), Ty Cobb (181) and Rogers Hornsby (179).

In those terms, Judge is arguably the greatest right-handed hitter since World War II.

Since May 5th last year, Aaron Judge is slashing .363/.495/.792 with 59 HR and 146 RBI (141 games) 🤯@markdero7 | @Yankees pic.twitter.com/cKzBKkSSGe

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) April 17, 2025

Based on his otherworldly performance over the last few years, it's hard to disagree. Since the start of 2022, he's batting .309/.436/.679 (209 OPS+) with 164 homers, 371 RBI and 27.8 WAR in 439 games, leading MLB in numerous offensive categories.

He's only getting better, too. Since May 5 of last year, he's slashing .363/.495/.792 with 59 homers, 146 RBI and 12.6 WAR in 141 games.

Those are simply Ruthian numbers, except Judge is posting them a century later against much tougher pitchers and competition.

What Judge is doing is special and hasn't been seen in a long time. He's a generational talent, a future Hall of Famer and one of the greatest players of all time, so hopefully fans appreciate his amazing accomplishments.

Recommended Articles

feed