Sep 13 2022
Article #1
Aaron Judge, an outfielder on the New York Yankees, currently has 59 home runs in the 2022 season and is on pace to break the American League record, which is set by Roger Maris, a former Yankee, with 61 total home runs.
During Spring Training, Judge had the chance to re-sign with the Yankees, since this is the last year of his current contract. He and the Yankees did not come to an agreement after he declined a 7-year deal worth 213.5 million dollars which left many MLB fans wondering, why?
Flash forward to today, and those fans can see why. Judge is currently leading the MLB in home runs, walks, runs scored, RBI, total bases, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, and OPS+.
All of the attention is on his current home run pace. If he continues on the trend he has had all season and finishes with at least 63 home runs, it will be the first time someone has passed 63 home runs since 2001, when Barry Bonds ended up hitting 73.
Within the American League, he just broke the home run record for right-handed hitters, which was held by Hank Greenberg (1938) and Jimmie Foxx (1932) with 58. Roger Maris is left-handed and holds the AL record at 61 which has been a record for 61 years.
Judge is also currently 20 home runs ahead of Kyle Schwarber, who is in second place in the MLB this year.
In order for Judge to break Maris’ home run record with 62 home runs, Judge would need to hit 1 home run every 5.33 games for the rest of the season. If he wants to tie Maris’ record at 61, he will have to hit 1 home run every 8 games for the rest of the season. If he wants to be the 9th person to ever record 60 home runs in a season, then he needs to hit 1 more home run this season. With that all being said his current pace is 1 home run every 2.47 games.
Coming this close to breaking the record comes with a lot of stress. In a CBS Sports article, Yankees manager, Aaron Boone states, “Aaron is cut out for this… I can’t think of someone more equipped to handle [stress].”
Judge isn’t bothered. He has other things on his mind. Right now, he has one main goal.
Judge says in a New York Times article, “What’s important to me is winning — winning this division, first off, and putting our team in a good position going into the postseason. It’s not all about me, no matter what happens. One guy can’t win or lose you a ballgame. All those accolades, all the records, stuff like that, that’s off-season talk.”
In a recent ESPN article, Yankees starter, Gerrit Cole comments, “Sorry to repeat the same line, but it’s historical. I got nothing else for you. It’s the greatest offensive season that I’ve personally ever witnessed. I don’t know what else to say. I mean, it’s wonderful. I’m riding it, dude. It’s amazing.”