Aaron Judge belted two more home runs on Monday to extend his league-leading mark to 17 bombs on the season, and also leads the league with 35 runs scored, 108 total bases, and a .715 slugging percentage.
In what could be a free agency season if he and the Yanks don’t come to an extension agreement, Judge isn’t just putting himself on a pace for his best season since his historic rookie campaign. He’s on pace for one of the best seasons by a Yankee of all time.
After Monday’s two home run night, Judge is on pace for a 66-homer season, which would comfortably surpass Roger Maris’ franchise-leading 61 home runs hit in the historic 1961 campaign. His slugging percentage is currently higher than what Mickey Mantle put up in his 1956 Triple Crown season, and, perhaps most remarkably, his 222 OPS+, a stat that takes the league-wide landscape into account, isn’t far off from Babe Ruth’s 1920 season when he changed the league with his power and posted a 255 OPS+.
Needless to say, Judge is currently performing on another level.
“Sometimes I feel like he’s salivating for something, gets it, and drills it. Sometimes I feel like he’s just being a good baseball player, staying up the middle, and drills it the same way,” Gerrit Cole said. “There’s not like all the things are going his way and he’s not looking for slug all the time, he’s just putting better swings on balls, better swings than what guys are throwing. He’s just better.”
Judge’s home run pace puts him just two off Mantle’s pace in 1956, when he hit a franchise-best 19 dingers through the first 40 games of the season. His pace through 42 games is better than Mantle or Maris in ’61, and has a five-homer cushion for the current league lead. He’s also batting .325 with a home run rate of 10 percent. By comparison, his home run percentage in 2017 was 7.7 percent.
It’s been a ridiculous year for Judge so far, but not surprisingly, he’s not interested in spending much time talking about it.
“Just trying to do my job, just like everybody else in this building,” Judge said. “I got a job to do at the top of the lineup, and have a lot of great hitters around me, which makes my job a lot easier.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
Listen live to WFAN:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker (just say ‘Play W-F-A-N’)