When New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge broke the American League single-season home run record with 62 homers in 2022, many likely thought that it would never be replicated. However, this season the slugger is on pace for 61 home runs, but he could very well hit more than that and set a new record by season’s end.
Aaron Judge could set a new home run record this season
Entering play on Friday, Judge has 48 home runs on the season with 33 games left to play. On Wednesday against the Cleveland Guardians, he hit two home runs, which is the 38th multi-home run game in his career and second this season.
His season total is even crazier considering that he had just four home runs through the first month of the regular season. Judge has been on a torrid pace for the past several months, as he has hit an outstanding 44 home runs in the past 99 games (h/t MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch)
He is quickly chasing another 60-homer season, which is something no Yankee has ever done twice. Judge will certainly reach the 50-homer landmark, which will be the third time in his career he will have done so and will become just the fifth player in MLB history to reach 50 homers in a season three separate times.
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Aaron Judge has been the best player in baseball in 2024
In addition to the home run race, Judge is well on his way to winning his second AL MVP in three seasons. He’s batting .334 on the season and has driven in 118 RBIs with an OPS of 1.191. Judge’s 223 wRC+ would be the seventh-best for a single season in baseball history, with Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds being the only players to ever finish a season with a higher mark (each did it three separate times).
Judge’s 2024 season will be beyond historic by the time it is wrapped up. The hope is that this year he can ride the high he is on into the postseason and get the Yankees far into the playoffs and end the 15-year title drought. Regardless of that, though, Judge is quickly cementing himself as one of the greatest Yankees in the history of the illustrious franchise.
