It pays to be the man for the New York Yankees.
Not only are Aaron Judge’s early season struggles ancient history, but his projected finish for the 2024 MLB season has him slated to win one of the most prestigious awards in the league.
Yankees: Aaron Judge can realistically win the Triple Crown in 2024
Judge is on pace to capture his first career Triple Crown. The Triple Crown is an award given to an MLB batter or pitcher who leads a league in three statistical categories for an entire season, specifically batting average, home runs, and RBIs. The illustrious honor has Judge’s name written all over it, if he can sustain his red-hot pace the rest of the way.
Currently, the Fresno State product leads not only the American League, but the MLB as a whole in home runs (32) and RBIs (83). He is second in the AL with a .318 batting average. The next closest slugger to Judge in home runs in the AL is Baltimore Orioles reigning AL Rookie of the Year Gunnar Henderson (26), and as for RBIs, his stiffest competition is Cleveland Guardians 3B Jose Ramirez (76).
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Judge could put his name next to one MLB great come season’s end
Judge will need to catch Guardians LF Steven Kwan and his unprecedented .360 average in order to put his name in rarified air with the greats of yesteryear. If he is able to hit all three markers come season’s end, the 32-year-old will join Miami Marlins and Detroit Tigers legend Miguel Cabrera (2012) as the only other slugger since 1967 to achieve such a feat.
There have only been 28 honorees since 1878, proving just how rare and challenging it is to capture the Triple Crown. That being said, Judge could put his stamp on a second career MVP award in the American League with the honor. He is in a heated battle with his Yankees teammate Juan Soto in this year’s MVP race, and could fend him and the other contenders off in grand fashion.
The six-time All-Star has already led the AL in home runs in 2017 and 2022 and RBIs in ’22, so he’s no stranger to delivering unparalleled production in those categories individually. He now has the chance to put it all together in a 2024 campaign that’s shaping up to be a special one for him and the Yankees as a unit.
