Aaron Judge hit his 350th career home run in Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs. In doing so, the New York Yankees slugger reached that milestone number fast than any other player in baseball history.
The homer was also No. 35 for Judge this season, coming in the ninth inning against Cubs reliever Brad Keller. Keller tried to get a 97.7 mph fastball past Judge high in the strike zone, but it was right down the middle and Judge didn’t miss it.
Judge reached 350 home runs in his career in 1,098 games, 192 games sooner than Mark McGwire. McGwire got No. 350 in 1,280 games, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs. The five players now below Judge are as follows:
Aaron Judge: 1,088 games
Mark McGwire: 1,280 games
Juan Gonzalez: 1,298 games
Alex Rodriguez: 1,301 games
Harmon Killebrew: 1,319 games
Albert Pujols: 1,320 games
Judge is the fourth Yankees player to reach 350 home runs while wearing the famed pinstripes, joining Babe Ruth, Alex Rodriguez and current teammate Giancarlo Stanton.
Though Judge will have at least 35 homers before the All-Star break, the fourth-highest total in MLB history, he still trails Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, who has 38 home runs after hitting two in Friday’s 12-3 win over the Detroit Tigers.
Presuming that both players will maintain their home run production through the second half of the season, the American League MVP race could be a tight one. Though Raleigh currently has the home run lead and also leads MLB with 82 RBI, Judge is batting .358 with a 1.204 OPS.
Unfairly or not, voters could also ultimately favor Judge if the Yankees finish with a better record than the Mariners and honor him with the third AL MVP award of his 10-year career.
Judge is currently on pace for 60 home runs, the second time he would hit that mark during his career and the fourth time he would hit 50 or more homers in a season. Last year, he hit 58 home runs while winning his second AL MVP.
Read the full article here