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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff WriterAug 27, 2024, 09:00 AM ET
- ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the Washington Wizards from 2014 to 2016 and the Washington Nationals from 2016 to 2018 for The Washington Post before covering the Los Angeles Dodgers and MLB for the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2024.
Every day, or close to it, Aaron Judge does something noteworthy, if not unprecedented. A towering home run — or two. An intentional walk with — gasp — two outs and the bases empty in the second inning. A record matched. Another record broken. Jaws dropping has become a daily occurrence going on five months.
And so his teammates and his manager have been asked, on an almost daily basis, to describe what they’re witnessing from the extraordinary slugger. By this point, the questions are met with headshakes. Formulating an answer has become an increasingly difficult mental exercise for members of the New York Yankees.
“Running out of words, honestly,” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday after Judge clubbed home runs Nos. 50 and 51 in a win over the Colorado Rockies. “Just running out of words with what he’s doing. We’re getting on the train [to Washington]. I gotta get the thesaurus out and get to work.”
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Judge has 51 home runs in 130 games, putting him on pace to break the American League record he set in 2022 of 62. He’s batting .333 with a .465 on-base percentage and .732 slugging percentage while playing center field almost every day. He leads the majors in fWAR. At age 32, he’s better than he’s ever been.
“I guess we’re on the on-pace portion of the season,” Boone joked last week. “Look, anything’s possible with him. I think he just wants to be great every day and help us win. So, nothing would surprise me.”
All this success comes despite a start to the season that saw Judge batting .178 with a .674 OPS and four home runs in 27 games. Since then, he’s become a pitch-mashing machine, slashing .377/.506/.844 with 47 home runs and 109 RBIs in 102 games. On Monday, he added a defensive gem: a leaping catch at the wall to rob an extra-base hit and turn a double play against the Washington Nationals.
“It’s hard,” said Gerrit Cole — one of baseball’s most thoughtful and well-spoken stars — when asked to describe Judge’s four-month onslaught last Thursday.
Cole had just watched Judge smack his 48th home run and tally his 16th intentional walk in a win against the Cleveland Guardians.
“It’s so impressive because when you look around the league and you see guys with high batting averages — .330, .340, .350, the guys in the past — there’s a fair amount of bunt hits and infield hits. This guy’s sitting at .330 and I’m not quite sure he has an infield hit all year. They’re all doubles and homers.
“So, it’s like there’s no one to compare to him. Certainly not walking around right now — outside [Barry] Bonds. I mean, so, it’s just … what a wonderful experience to have him on my team and being around him.”
A little earlier that afternoon, Giancarlo Stanton, one of the few people ever to know what it’s like to club home runs at that clip, offered a contemporary measuring stick for his teammate’s tear.
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“He’s playing a video game,” said Stanton, who banged 59 home runs for the Miami Marlins in 2017. “All of us are out here grinding.”
Three days later, Marcus Stroman decided video games were yesterday’s news.
“It’s maybe even better than video game numbers,” Stroman said. “You know they say, like, ‘Oh, this guy’s like a video game.’ It’s better than that.
“I’m just trying to be present and take it all in, to be honest with you, because it’s something you may never see again. I’m just trying to witness it and really feel it in the moment.”
During a game last week, Stroman stood next to fellow starter Nestor Cortes in the Yankees’ dugout and marveled at Judge’s abilities.
“He was like, ‘Oh man, this guy’s incredible,'” Cortes recalled. “And I’m like, ‘Yeah, I watched this in 2022 all year. It felt like every time he goes up to bat it was either a homer or a walk, and that’s exactly what’s happening now.”
The reality is Judge is better than he was in 2022, and he’s reached another level in August. In 21 games this month, he’s batting .425 with 12 home runs and a 1.544 OPS — all tops in the majors. Of 181 qualified players, 169 have an OPS at or below Judge’s .986 slugging percentage. He has hit four home runs in his past five games, seven in his past seven games and nine in his past 11 games.
With the outburst, he became the first player to ever have 50 home runs, 120 RBIs and 100 walks before September. He’s the fifth player ever to hit 50 home runs in three different seasons. With a month and change remaining, he’s on track to become the third player with multiple 60 home run seasons. There’s no sign of him — or the questions — slowing down.
“Hard to wrap your head around it,” Boone said. “We talk about it a lot, just what he’s doing, because I get asked about it all the time. Not just in these pressers, but people coming up to you. I’m kind of running out of words to say you’re witnessing greatness. You really are. He’s just kind of better than everyone.”
