Heading into Saturday’s game, New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was already enjoying a tremendous, potentially record-breaking season. What he did on Saturday against the Chicago Cubs only makes things better.
Judge quickly staked the Yankees to a 1-0 lead when he led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run.
All Rise! Leadoff Liftoff. pic.twitter.com/5MQVPpEJ43
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 11, 2022
In the fifth inning, Judge was back at it again, giving the fans another souvenier.
Frequent Flyer. pic.twitter.com/1NajBxhltT
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 12, 2022
Judge’s day did not go unnoticed. Baseball fans praised the performance of the New York slugger.
Aaron Judge 70 home run watch is a legitimate thing
— Tommy Smokes (@TomScibelli) June 12, 2022
Man Aaron Judge is having a hell of a season🔥🔥
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) June 11, 2022
Understand that we are watching a player who will go down as one of the greatest Yankees of all-time in Aaron Judge
— Dan Rourke (@DanAlanRourke) June 12, 2022
Yankees with at least 24 HR in the team's first 59 games:
Aaron Judge (2022)
Mickey Mantle (1956)
Babe Ruth (1921, '28, '30)— Katie Sharp (@ktsharp) June 12, 2022
this gap between Aaron Judge and literally everyone else in home runs is both mind-boggling and hilarious pic.twitter.com/ArHlGp7R1J
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) June 12, 2022
aaron judge this season pic.twitter.com/M4KiwvnDvU
— Emerson Lotzia, Jr. (@EmersonLotzia) June 12, 2022
I’m not sure there is much else to say about Aaron Judge at this point. He’s the best player in baseball up until this point in the season and it’s not really close.
— Randy Wilkins (@pamsson) June 12, 2022
Following his two home runs on Saturday, Judge is now on pace to 66 for the season. In some respects, it still might seem premature to think that Judge has a chance to catch Roger Maris’ 61 home runs, let alone Barry Bonds’ record of 73. But, before you dismiss those chances, consider some things.
The weather is only going to continue to get hotter as we get later into June, then into July and the Dog Days of Summer in August. Generally speaking, baseballs begin to carry a lot better as the weather gets warmer. While maintaining such a prolific home run pace will not be easy, by any means, it is possible.
Prior to the season, Judge opted to bet on himself rather than sign a luvrative contract extension with New York. If nothing else, that’s looking like a great decision right now. It’s hard to imagine a player having a better contract year.
