Aaron Judge chasing his own home run history after latest Yankees blast
Your daily pace update: With 49 home runs through 129 Yankees games, Aaron Judge projects for 61.56 homers this season.
That exact amount will not happen, but what is happening is historic.
Two seasons after breaking the franchise and American League record with 62 home runs, the Yankees superstar is again chasing history — this time his own.
The hunt for 63 is on, No. 49 coming in the sixth inning of Friday’s 3-0 win over the Rockies in The Bronx.
Baseball, just about everyone around the sport will tell you, is a sport built upon failure.
Unless you are Judge, who is homering just about daily.
“I’m kind of running out of words to say,” said manager Aaron Boone, who essentially is tasked with finding a new way to characterize a living legend every day. “You’re witnessing greatness. You really are.
“He’s just kind of better than everyone.”
Friday’s moment arrived against lefty Kyle Freeland, who tried a 1-1 fastball that wasn’t even on the plate.
But Judge turned on the inside, would-be ball and smoked it 388 feet to left, clearing the wall for his fifth home run in the past four games.
And seventh in the past eight. And eighth in the past 11.
“The amazing part about what Aaron’s doing is I don’t even necessarily feel like he’s on fire right now,” Boone said of Judge, who tallied 50 through 129 games in 2022. “I just feel like he’s just this good.”
Judge agreed with the first part; the best hitter in baseball, who is taking a spot among the greatest sluggers the game has ever seen, said he does not feel like he is riding a hot streak.
“Once we get locked in, I’ll let you [reporters] know,” said Judge, who went 1-for-4 with the solo shot and bemoaned a hot shot that became a double play. “There’s always work to be done.”
In 100 games since April 27, Judge is batting .378 with a .505 on-base percentage, 45 home runs, 24 doubles, 106 RBIs and 84 walks.
No one — not Babe Ruth, not Ted Williams, not Barry Bonds — had hit at least .375 with at least 45 home runs over a 100-game span in major league history.
“He’s a remarkable player,” said Rockies manager Bud Black, who managed the Padres when Bonds was shredding the record books with the division-rival Giants. “He’s put up seasons that are Bonds-like.”
The dreadful Rockies pitched to Judge four times and were not hurt three times, Judge grounding into the double play, lining out to third base and popping out.
But given enough chances, the best hitter in baseball will come through.
His sixth-inning dinger led off the frame in a game the Yankees were winning by two.
With a bit over five weeks remaining in the season, he’s up to 49 homers and threatening the kind of history that doesn’t get threatened.
The only hitters with multiple 60-home-run campaigns are Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, who received performance-enhancing help.
The clubhouse around Judge might be slack-jawed, but that doesn’t mean his teammates are shocked.
“He’s done it before. You can’t be surprised,” said Giancarlo Stanton, who blasted the 424th home run of his own career but has been overshadowed not just by Judge but by Juan Soto. “We got plenty of time for [Judge] to do even more impressive things.”
