Playing for a team and a city where the first grand ballpark was built on the back of a man who ended up being more myth than man, where the great ghosts of the past physically loitered beyond the centerfield wall, the belief that if anybody could measure up to what it meant to be the next Yankee great, Aaron Judge looked the part.
The home runs came right away and in bunches for the six-foot-seven, hulking outfielder, showing he was a true slugger. In the last few years, since turning 30, a high on-base percentage arrived, demonstrating he could be a great, disciplined batter.
This year, with a batting average above .400 after a quarter of the season, Judge showed that he had the final piece of the puzzle, that he was truly a great hitter.
After striking out his first time up on Sunday, Judge had four hits in his next four at-bats in the Yanks’ 12-2 win over the Athletics, driving in two runs in the process. Smoking three balls harder than 99.8 mph, increasing his 57.1 hard-hit percentage he had entering the game.
Ben Rice, who notched his first career grand slam in the game, could only shake his head about the right fielder.
“Just another day at the office for him,” Rice said. “It’s crazy you sometimes catch yourself taking it for granted what he’s doing. It’s been so impressive to watch, so fun to watch him hit every day and go out there and help us win.”
For Judge, the series against the Athletics helped right the ship after three games against the Padres in The Bronx saw him collect just one hit (a solo home run) in 10 at-bats with two walks, three strikeouts, and one double play. In West Sacramento, he tallied seven hits in 14 at-bats, including two doubles, two home runs, and five RBI to give him the third-highest batting average for a Yank through 40 games, trailing Paul O’Neill in 1994 (.465) and Mickey Mantle in 1956 (.430).
Even after the San Diego swoon, his slash line ballooned to .409/.494/.779 for a 1.273 OPS by Sunday. Not only is he first in all of baseball in each of those four categories, but he’s blowing away the competition.
Judge is first in batting average by 60 points (Paul Goldschmidt at .349 is next closest), in OBP by 60 (Pete Alonso at .434), slugging by 138 (Shohei Ohtani at .641), and OPS by 222 (Ohtani at 1.051).
And for good measure, he’s put himself in position for a shot at history. He’s in the conversation to be the 11th player to win the American League triple crown and first since Miguel Cabrera in 2012. And by leading the AL with 63 hits (ahead of Jacob Wilson by nine) and home runs (ahead of Cal Raleigh by two), he could be the first player to lead the league in both categories since Jim Rice in 1978.
And yet, both manager Aaron Boone and Judge agree he is still not as locked in as he would like to be.
“Still not where we want to be,” Judge said after Sunday’s game. “But we’re improving. I think that’s the beauty of this game: there’s always room for improvement. There’s always areas of your game that you can try to get a little bit better at. That’s just a constant chase in the game that we play.”
Always room for improvement. Always another mountain to climb. Always another chance to be ‘the first player since…’
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