It’s safe to say that Aaron Judge is set to make *a lot* of money as a free agent ahead of the 2023 MLB season.
The New York Yankees‘ 6’7″ slugger cranked his MLB-leading 20th home run of the season in Friday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers.
A verdict has been reached. pic.twitter.com/JoguAeMHDC
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 3, 2022
Speaking of the Tigers, Judge now has just 10 fewer homers than the Tigers do as an entire team! Detroit has hit an MLB-lowest 30 homers on the season.
Home Runs this season…
Aaron Judge: 20
Detroit Tigers: 30
— Matt Clapp (@TheBlogfines) June 4, 2022
The Yankees, meanwhile, have 77 dingers as a team, good for seven more than any other team. Getting 20 homers from one player is a big help, of course.
Judge has more four homers than the second-highest total of 16 blasts from the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Mookie Betts, and nobody else in the majors has at least 15 homers. He has an MLB-best .679 slugging percentage, with the next-best mark being .642 from the Cleveland Guardians’ Jose Ramirez. He also leads the majors in OPS (1.059) and wRC+ (200).
There’s a long way to go, and it’s extremely difficult to sustain the production to this level, but Judge is currently topping the slugging numbers of his ridiculous 2017 Rookie of the Year season, when he hit 52 homers, slugged .627, and put together a 1.049 OPS and 174 wRC+. He was worth 8.8 wins above replacement (WAR) per FanGraphs in that 2017 season, while currently coming in at 3.2 WAR (third, behind Betts and Manny Machado).
Judge is looking like a very strong MVP contender for a Yankees team that entered Friday night with the best record in the majors at 36-15. And he’s looking very likely to get a mega contract this upcoming offseason.
Here’s a look at how the MLB world is reacting to Judge hitting his 20th homer of the season:
Aaron Judge is on pace to hit 62 home runs, which would be the most in Yankees single-season history pic.twitter.com/qJua429yug
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) June 4, 2022
Aaron Judge is the 5th player in #Yankees history to hit at least 20 home runs through his first 50 games of a season
He joins Babe Ruth (23 in 1928, 21 in 1926, 20 in 1932, 20 in 1930), Mickey Mantle (21 in 1956) Gary Sanchez (20 in 2016, 20 in 2019) and Luke Voit (21 in 2020)
— New York Yankees Stats (@nyyankeesstats) June 4, 2022
First to 20 home runs
2022: Aaron Judge
2021: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
2020: Luke Voit
2019: Christian Yelich
2018: JD Martinez
2017: Aaron Judge
2016: Mark Trumbo
2015: Giancarlo Stanton
2014: Nelson Cruz
2013: Chris Davis
2012: Josh Hamilton
2011: José Bautista
2010: José Bautista— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) June 4, 2022
Aaron Judge on June 3rd:
2022: 20 HR, 40 RBI, 41 R, .310/.380/.679 (and counting)
2017: 18 HR, 41 RBI, 43 R, .326/.433/.691— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) June 4, 2022
Aaron Judge, who placed a gigantic bet on himself this year and it’s working so far, is the first player in MLB to reach 20 homers in 2022.
It’s only his 50th game of the season.
— James Wagner (@ByJamesWagner) June 3, 2022
I sure am tired of people saying “When he’s healthy” in reference to Aaron Judge.
It’s a tired narrative and just not necessary anymore. He played 148 games last year and 48 of their 51 this year
There’s always a chance of injury. But he doesn’t need that clarification first.
— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) June 3, 2022
Aaron Judge 8-years, $288M send it in.
— Gary Sheffield Jr. (@GarysheffieldJr) June 3, 2022