Aaron Judge went from recording a .178 average in April to being the best hitter in the league in May. He almost flipped a switch overnight to script one of the greatest months of hitting in May.
Across 28 games in May, Judge hit .371 with 14 home runs, 12 doubles, 27 RBI, 22 walks and a 1.415 OPS. Every time Aaron Judge goes on a nuclear run, he ends up smashing multiple records. Here’s a look at 10 such historic records chased by Judge following his iconic hot stretch.
10 Wild Records Scripted By Aaron Judge In May
1. Aaron Judge broke Lou Gehrig’s franchise record
Aaron Judge went for 14 home runs and 12 doubles in May, which is the most ever recorded by a player in a singular month in the Yankees’ glorious history. The record was previously held by Yankee legend Lou Gehrig.
2. Judge stands tall with Babe Ruth, Ted Williams
According to Katie Sharp, Aaron Judge surpassed the legends of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, and Jimmie Foxx to become the only player to register 25 base hits and 22 walks in a single month of an MLB season.
3. Historic 20-Game stretch
Aaron Judge’s 20 game stretch in May wherein he recorded 12 doubles and 11 home runs on the trot was best streak ever witnessed in MLB’s history. Such numbers have never been achieved by any slugger whatsoever.
4. Aaron Judge leads the league
After having a slow start to the season, Aaron Judge has fallen back into the MVP race with a sensational month of May. Entering Saturday, he is leading the league in home runs (14), OPS (1.415), on-base percentage (.488), slugging percentage (.928), and average exit velocity (100 MPH). Additionally, Judge’s .371 batting average was second only to Luis Arraez (.389), and his 27 RBI were second only to Jose Ramirez (33).
5. Unbelievable WAR figure
Judge achieved a fWAR figure of 3.1 in May month alone whereas only six players have a 3.0 total fWAR for the entire season thus far in MLB’s history. Bobby Witt Jr. is second on the list of highest fWAR in the month with 1.8.
6. Massive jump in batting average
Aaron Judge’s batting average in April succumbed to .207 as tensions began to creep in about the Yankees captain’s form. However, by the end of May, his average saw a jump of 75 points as Judge will now enter June with .282 batting average.
7. Aaron Judge leads the league in home runs
Aaron Judge’s swing misses hampered his stats in April massively. Regardless, Judge was able to identity the missing points as he went from 6 home run in April to 14 in May. His tally for the season in 20 which is the most hit this season across the league.
8. Judge on pace to a monster season
With Aaron Judge finally picking up pace in the second month of the season, he’s expected to finish with another stellar season. At the present pace, Judge will likely end up with 54.9 home runs in the 2024 MLB season.
9. Coming through in clutch moments
According to stat expert Katie Sharp, 12 of the 20 home runs Judge scored this season have given the Yankees a lead, which means the slugger has changed the course of the game on 12 occasions. The average go-ahead home run percentage in MLB is 34%.
10. Historic month
In what turned out to be a greatest month of hitting, Yankees captain Aaron Judge is the only player in MLB to have record at least 14 home runs, 25 extra-base hits, 12 doubles, 27 RBI and 22 walks in a 28 games stretch of a single season.
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