Yankees star named Hank Aaron Award finalist

Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge was named a finalist for the 2021 Hank Aaron Award.

Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge was named a finalist for the 2021 Hank Aaron Award, MLB said in a statement Friday.

The honor recognizes the “most outstanding regular season offensive performer in each League since it was established in 1999,” the league said.

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Judge would certainly fit that definition for the Yankees. He hit a team-best 39 home runs with a .287 batting average, 98 RBI and a .916 OPS in 550 at-bats.

In 2017, when Judge slugged a league-best 52 home runs, he saw the Hank Aaron Award (as well as the AL MVP Award) go to Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve.

This time around, it’s likely that Judge will receive some down-ballot American League MVP votes as well, behind the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani and the Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Former Yankees captain Derek Jeter won the Hank Aaron Award in 2006 and 2009. Alex Rodriguez won it four times, but just once with the Yankees (2007).

Giancarlo Stanton won it with the Miami Marlins in 2017, when he slugged 59 home runs. He also won the award in 2014.

From MLB:

This year’s Hank Aaron Award marks the first since the passing of Henry “Hank” Aaron on January 22, 2021. Today, for the first time in MLB history, Aaron’s two former franchises, the Atlanta Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers, will meet in Game One of the National League Division Series presented by Good Sam. Each Club nominated one player from its team to be considered for the Hank Aaron Award. A panel of MLB.com writers determined seven finalists for each league from the list of Club nominees. In addition to the fan vote, a special panel of Hall of Fame players will vote on the winners of the award, which is officially sanctioned by Major League Baseball. Hall of Famers Chipper Jones, Pedro Martínez and John Smoltz joined the returning voting panel that include Johnny Bench, Craig Biggio, Ken Griffey Jr., Eddie Murray and Robin Yount. Continuing through October 15, fans have the opportunity to select one American League and one National League winner from a list comprising of 14 player finalists. Three former Hank Aaron Award winners are among this year’s finalists: Freddie Freeman (2020), Bryce Harper (2015) and Paul Goldschmidt (2013).

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Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com.

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