Aaron Judge’s home run on Sunday was not just his MLB-leading 42nd of the season.
This puts him just one hit away from becoming the fastest player in history to reach 300.
The 299th hit came in Sunday’s 8-7 win over the Rangers and came in Judge’s 952nd career game.
Ralph Kiner reached the 300-point milestone in his 1,087th game, but Elias said Judge has nearly a full season of games to break Kiner’s record.
Judge wasn’t particularly interested in thinking about the future after Sunday’s win.
“It means a lot when it comes with a win,” Judge said, “and that’s not what we play for. I just want to put my team in a good position.”
His teammates explained in more detail.
“It’s unbelievable,” Giancarlo Stanton said. “He does something special every day. I’ve been able to watch most of his career and it’s been fun to watch his evolution. He has so much more potential.”
Stanton hit 300 home runs in 1,119 games and ranks fifth on the 300 home run list.
The combination of Judge and Soto continued to dominate opposing teams, hitting back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning for their fourth time this year.
Soto reached 30 home runs for the third time in his career, but still found himself in Judge’s shadow.
“It’s amazing,” Soto said of Judge’s talent. “It’s unbelievable.”
Aaron Boone called it “remarkable.”
He called Judge and Soto the “aircraft carriers” of the Yankees’ offense.
With Stanton batting behind them as the No. 4 hitter, Boone is confident the lineup will perform better than the top of the order.
And Stanton’s home run in the fifth inning after Judge was intentionally walked will probably discourage teams from using that strategy going forward, which could mean more pitches for Judge to have to hit.
