Aaron Judge has written a new chapter in Yankees history, becoming the fourth player ever in the team’s storied past to earn his third American League MVP award.
Even with flexor tendonitis bothering his right elbow for much of the second half of the season, he joins legends like Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, and Mickey Mantle as an MVP winner after a season filled with standout performances against rival teams.
This year, the MVP race had more excitement than in the previous two years when Judge took home the award. Seattle’s Cal Lowry emerged as a strong contender, hitting 60 home runs—a new record for a catcher and switch hitter. But in the end, the BBWAA vote still favored Judge.
He also claimed his first batting title, posting a career-best .331 average, and led the majors significantly in on-base percentage (.457), slugging percentage (.688), and OPS (1.144).
The only area where Judge didn’t excel was home runs; still, he hit 50 for the fourth time, despite missing 10 games due to his elbow issue. This achievement makes him the third player in MLB history to secure a batting title while also hitting 50 home runs.
Manager Paul Goldschmidt noted last month, after the Yankees fell to the Blue Jays in the ALDS, that hitting “only” 50 home runs sometimes goes underappreciated.
Judge now stands as the first Yankees player to win back-to-back MVP awards since Roger Maris in 1960-61, and he is the first to claim consecutive AL MVP titles since Miguel Cabrera in 2012-13. It’s worth mentioning that Shohei Ohtani won the 2023 AL MVP with the Angels while also earning the NL MVP last year with the Dodgers.
This time, Judge outperformed Lowry, who had a batting average of .247—the lowest for any non-pitcher MVP—but he did have 125 RBIs and was key in leading Seattle to the AL West division title and a spot in the ALCS for the first time since 2001.
Judge’s latest accolade comes after a season where he moved past DiMaggio, Berra, and Alex Rodriguez on the Yankees’ all-time home run list, reaching 368. Lou Gehrig is next, with 493.
He had arguably his best season until suffering an elbow injury in late July.
After coming back from the injured list, Judge’s performance dipped, making him take on the designated hitter role for a month. But he still turned in some of his strongest numbers in September.
The only thing that really hampered Judge’s chances, likely preventing a fourth straight MVP award, was a toe injury from crashing into a fence at Dodger Stadium in June 2023.
After Juan Soto left the Mets in free agency, Judge managed to keep performing well in his third year of a nine-year, $360 million contract.
With Cody Bellinger hitting free agency this offseason, Judge might be on the lookout for some lineup help. But he’s shown time and again that he can really be a force, provided he remains healthy.
