It was a terrific game for New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge on Friday night, hitting two home runs as well as a fantastic home run robbery against the Kansas City Royals to help propel them to an 11-5 victory.
A game like that is hard to top, but Judge has certainly done his best to do so on Saturday, hitting his league-leading 42nd home run in the bottom of the second inning off Royals starting pitcher Jonathan Heasley.
Can't stop. Won't stop. @TheJudge44 🧑⚖️ pic.twitter.com/Zj2uOEHcZH
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 30, 2022
On top of being likely the best hitter in baseball, he has certainly been the hottest hitter in baseball, with this home run making it the 12th homer in the last 14 games.
Judge with MLB-leading HR No. 42. He's hit 9 HR in his last 9 games and 12 HR in his last 14 games
— Erik Boland (@eboland11) July 30, 2022
With the second-inning blast, Judge has cemented himself in Yankees team history forever, breaking Babe Ruth’s team record for the most home runs before the month of August.
Aaron Judge passes Babe Ruth (41 HR in 1928) for the most HR before August in #Yankees history
Coming into today Judge is on pace for 66 HR in 157 games this season— Adnan Virk (@adnansvirk) July 30, 2022
He only sits behind Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire for the most home runs before August in the history of MLB before August.
Aaron Judge becomes the fourth player in MLB history to get to 42+ home runs before August:
Barry Bonds, 45, 2001
Mark McGwire, 45, 1998
Sammy Sosa, 42, 1998
Aaron Judge, 42, 2022pic.twitter.com/7O7xV4NmJv— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) July 30, 2022
We haven’t seen a player hit home runs at this pace in quite some time, with many thinking that he has a real shot to break the single-season record for home runs in a year held by Bonds.
PA per HR
8.95, Aaron Judge (2022)
9.10, Barry Bonds (2001)— Dan Clark (@DanClarkSports) July 30, 2022
Aaron Judge just hit another one before I can even press publish. He's now almost exactly on track to catch Bonds with two months left in the season. https://t.co/grvJRFUIKA
— Zach Dean (@ZachDeanDBNJ) July 30, 2022
Aaron Judge. That’s the tweet. Dude is carrying the game of baseball on his back right now. Fun to watch man!
— Rookie Davis (@rookdavis24) July 30, 2022
Hal Steinbrenner should just go meet Aaron Judge at his locker and hand him a $425 million deal after the game.
— Doug Rush (@TheDougRush) July 30, 2022
Aaron Judge is having a “pay me ALL the money” year. Absolutely wild. #Yankees
— Daniel Yanofsky (@DanYanofsky) July 30, 2022
Although it is certainly impressive what Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani does as a pitcher and an outfielder, Judge is making it very clear that he is the runaway MVP in the American League unless he has a catastrophic meltdown down the stretch of the season.
Judge is currently on a one-year $19 million contract with the Yankees, but there has been wide speculation about his desire to stay in New York after turning down a seven-year $213.5 million contract offer before the season.
Judge’s price will only be higher after this terrific season, and the Yankees will need to open their checkbook if they want to keep him for years to come.
