What Aaron Judge's Teammates Are Saying About His Historic Start to This Season
NEW YORK — As soon as Aaron Judge departed from the on deck circle, striding toward the batter's box in the first inning on Wednesday night, murmurs from punctual fans in the Bronx switched to reverberating chants of M-V-P.
What Judge has been able to accomplish through the first few months of this season, leading New York to one of their best starts in franchise history, has certainly warranted such an ovation.
Judge is leading all of Major League Baseball in several offensive categories, rarely taking a day off while flashing his versatility, playing quality defense in center field. The slugger is hitting .313 with 25 home runs (nobody else has more than 18), 49 RBI, a 1.067 OPS and 3.8 fWAR. He leads the league with an average exit velocity of 96.4 mph and a 26.3 barrel rate, routinely testing the limits of Statcast with his blistering batted balls.
While Judge continues to swing his way into history books, dropping jaws with each majestic blast, his teammates have been just as astonished as anyone, soaking it in from the best seats in the house.
"I think he's the best player in the game right now," infielder Matt Carpenter recently told Inside The Pinstripes. "We get to see it on a day-to-day basis. What 6-foot-8, 280-pound center fielder has there ever been? The at-bats that he has and then getting to know him personally, the kind of clubhouse leader he is, the type of teammate he is. I'm just super impressed. He's the real deal."
Carpenter is Judge's newest teammate, a 12-year veteran that's been in pinstripes for only a few weeks. Even a longtime big leaguer that's been around all-time greats like Albert Pujols hasn't seen anything like this before.
"It feels like he homers every game," Carpenter said. "It feels like he's gonna do something every single game that you just go wow. I don't want to say I take it for granted, but you almost do in a way. When you're watching every day, you're just like 'oh, Aaron Judge is gonna homer,' but if you sit back and think about it, what he's doing is not only remarkable, but it hasn't really been done very often in the history of the sport. It's pretty special."
Carpenter is spot on. Judge's numbers are historic.
The 30-year-old is just the third player in Yankees franchise history to hit 25-plus home runs through New York's first 62 games of a season, joining Hall of Famers Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle. Entering play on Thursday, Judge is on pace to hit 65 home runs this season. That would break Roger Maris' single-season record in the American League, the first 60-homer campaign the game has seen since the steroid era.
"He's the best player in the league right now," shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa added. "I played with Adrian Beltre and he's a Hall of Famer. If Judgey can keep this up for another couple of years, he's going to be a first ballot guy too. So it's pretty cool, especially being with the history of the Yankees, this guy's going to be a Yankee great forever. In 10 years, 15 years, when I look back at this, it's gonna be something that we'll never forget."
As much as Judge's production between the lines has garnered quite a bit of attention, many of his teammates have actually been more impressed with his conduct off the field, praising the way the captain-like figure has carried himself behind the scenes.
Take reliever Ron Marinaccio, for instance. The rookie doesn't have the biggest role on New York's pitching staff, but the right-hander explained that Judge has made a concerted effort to help him feel more comfortable this year, making everyone—regardless of their role—feel like they're part of the team. Lucas Luetge, another one of New York's relievers, said Judge brings 100 percent each and every day, no matter what.
"He's never down, he's never in a bad mood," Luetge said. "To see that from anybody, especially your superstar, is always a good thing."
And yet, even as the face of the franchise, a larger-than-life player with a section of Yankee Stadium named after him, Judge doesn't act like a superstar, according to Kiner-Falefa
"He's the leader of this team and he cares more about the other guys around him than himself. I think that's what everybody in this clubhouse feeds off," he said. "I feel like if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be in the situation we're in now. Just seeing your best player go out and work the hardest and bring a different type of energy and accountability, that's what leaders do. And he's leading us right now. To see him for the first time and have the results he's having, it's not surprising, because we see the effort he puts in."
Check in with Judge about his performance thus far, or his ability to stay this consistent, and he'll deflect, crediting his teammates, saying he's just doing his job. Even after games where it seems like Judge is looking at a beach ball at the plate, he'll say he isn't locked in just yet.
Nonetheless, those around him are itching to see what he does next. Not just because he's a key component in this team's pursuit of a championship, but because of each step he takes closer to history.
Asked why he believes Judge can continue this pace, Yankees manager Aaron Boone recently mentioned the slugger's track record along with the fact that, simply put, he's a great hitter.
"His aptitude and experience now, coupled with the talent that he has, as a hitter, has allowed him to I think, get incrementally better at this point in his career than he was last year, the year before, the year before," Boone explained. "He's walking out there obviously with a ton of confidence."
So, as Judge sauntered out for his first at-bat on Wednesday night, M-V-P chants drowning out his walk-up song blaring from the stadium speakers, he continued to impress.
Working the count full against Rays left-hander Shane McClanahan—an early front runner in the American League Cy Young Award race—Judge deposited a hanging breaking ball over the short porch in right field, spotting the Yankees a 1-0 lead.
Against arguably the best pitcher in the league, Judge homered on the southpaw's most effective pitch.
At this point, all you can do is wonder what Judge will do next.
"He's a big human being. He hits the ball, it's got a good chance of going out," Luetge said with a grin. "We're all happy for him. It's his contract year. This is what you want your teammate to do in his contract year."
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- How Jose Trevino Helped Kyle Higashioka End His Home Run Drought
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