About a month ago, there was concern that New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge had begun his decline. As of April 22, he was hitting .174/.308/.337 with three home runs and 31 strikeouts. With Judge at 32, it was very conceivable that his hard-swinging, high-strikeout style was beginning to catch up with him.
Let’s say that now there are not so many worries.
Against the San Francisco Giants on Friday, Judge hit his 19th and 20th home runs of the season to take sole possession of the MLB lead in long balls. With runners on the corners, one out and the count full, Judge took a well-placed splitter from Giants starter Jordan Hicks and deposited it into the left-field stands.
Judge followed with another home run in the sixth inning, sending an inside sinker to center for his first multi-home run game of the season. He is also the first player in MLB to reach 20 home runs.
Judge was previously tied on 18 home runs with Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson and Houston Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker.
However, the first home run didn’t just give Judge the lead in the MLB. By MLB NetworkHe also broke a record previously held by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig for most extra-base hits ever by a Yankee in May, with 25.
It’s certainly a specific stat, but it still shows how unstoppable Judge has been since activating it. He entered Friday hitting an unfathomable .355/.479/.871 in May, and hit 14 home runs in the month with both coming off Hicks. He now leads the American League in doubles, home runs, walks, slugging percentage, total bases and OPS.
That effort, coupled with American League on-base percentage leader Juan Soto and a surprisingly strong Yankee rotation, has the Yankees with a 39-19 record through Friday, good for first place in the Division. American League East.