New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge hit his 50th home run of the season Sunday against the Colorado Rockies. Pitcher Austin Gomber threw an 0-2 slider on the outside of the plate and Judge launched it into center field to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the first inning.
Judge, 32, reached the 50-homer mark for the third time in his career. He last did so in 2022, when he set the American League single-season home run record with 62 and won the American League Most Valuable Player Award.
It was in his first full season with the Yankees in 2017 that Judge hit 50 home runs for the first time, a season that included making the American League All-Star team, winning the American League Rookie of the Year Award, leading the American League in home runs and winning a Silver Slugger Award.
Judge’s 2024 season has him primed to be the favorite for his second AL MVP award and potentially the first MLB Triple Crown winner since Miguel Cabrera in 2012 and just the second since 1967.
Judge currently leads all players in home runs (50) and RBIs (121) and is second in batting average (.333). Only Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals prevents the Yankees star from leading MLB in all three categories.
With 32 games remaining in the regular season, Judge is on track to hit 60 homers for the second time in his career. He already joined Babe Ruth and Roger Maris in reaching the 60-homer mark in a single season, but if he does it again, he would be the first Yankees player to hit that many homers in multiple seasons.
Earlier this month, Judge became the fastest player in MLB history to reach 300 career home runs when he reached the milestone in 954 games. Judge also surpassed Yankees legend Babe Ruth by reaching 300 home runs in 3,428 career at-bats. Ruth reached the milestone in 3,830 at-bats.
