Aaron Judge is having a rookie year to remember and just broke a record by one of the greatest baseball players to ever play the game. On Wednesday, Judge smashed his 29th home run of the season and tied the record for most home runs in a rookie campaign for the new york yankees. With only half the season gone, Judge will shatter the record and stretch it into something very special.
Aaron Judge’s rookie season
Coming into the season, Aaron Judge had a lot of promise. However, Judge has exceeded all expectations. While a number of players have eclipsed 20 home runs this year, it is the rookie Judge that leads Major League Baseball.
His 29 homers are four more than the Houston Astros’ George Springer and there are four other players sitting at 24.
However, Aaron Judge also has a very impressive .331 batting average and 65 RBIs. His batting average is only .001 behind Jose Altuve and Judge is a frontrunner for a very rare Triple Crown. That is impressive because only 17 batters have ever won the Triple Crown since 1878. Miguel Cabrera was the last to win it in 2012 and before that, it was Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. If the New York Yankees rookie wins the Triple Crown, it could be the best rookie season in Major League Baseball history.
There are only two other people in Major League Baseball history to hit 29 home runs before the MLB All-Star break.
Jose Abreu did it in 2014 when he hit 29. Mark McGwire did it in 1987 when he hit 33. McGwire finished that season with 49 and Abreu, in his rookie season, finished with only 36. If Aaron Judge keeps his pace, he could finish the season with 56 home runs, the most since 2006 (Ryan Howard, 58).
Aaron Judge’s home runs
The Aaron Judge home runs are not just regular homers either.
Judge, 25, hit his 28th home run on Tuesday night. That home run flew off his bat at 118.4 mph and traveled 456 feet. What is impressive is that the hit was only his fourth fastest home run hit and it actually dented a metal door casement past the outfield wall. The New York Yankees would lose the game anyway to the Toronto Blue Jays.
All Major League Baseball fans will get a chance to see what Aaron Judge can do when he takes part in the Home Run Derby during the MLB All-Star week festivities. This year’s home run contestants include Judge and fellow New York Yankees teammate Gary Sanchez, Kansas City Royals’ slugger Mike Moustakas, and the Minnesota Twins’ star Miguel Sano. For the National League, fans will get to watch defending champ Giancarlo Stanton, Justin Bour, Cody Bellinger, and Charlie Blackmon.
