Initially, Aaron Judge had a very slow start to the ongoing season. He was going through an early season slump, and that scared the fans in the Bronx. But the New York Yankees had another superstar slugger that they could bet on. He is Juan Soto. The Dominican slugger’s addition to the roster has been really impactful so far. Moreover, the former San Diego Padres outfielder led the offence of the New York side in April. He did a pretty good job, winning the Player of the Month award. However, fans wondered what went wrong with Aaron Judge. There were a lot of factors that could lead to his slow start.
For instance, injuries last season and also in Spring Training this year could have been very impactful. Nevertheless, the Yankees captain turned things around in May. He took seven games to hit his first home run in 2024. But coming to the end of June, Judge leads the home run list in the league with 30 HR. Clearly, it has been an amazing comeback by the NY side’s captain. Lately, Pete Alonso of the NY Mets called Judge’s season so far “Absolutely Insane.”
Pete Alonso Said Aaron Judge Has Been Insane Since May
Currently, the New York derby, aka, the ‘Subway Series’ is the big news in the MLB. The Mets won the first game against the Bronx Bombers 9-7. Both Juan Soto and Aaron Judge hit homers. However, it turned out to be not enough. Anyway, prior to the first game of the Subway Series this season, the Mets hitter Pete Alonso said, as per Daily News that Judge’s season has been “Absolutely Insane” so far. Moreover, the slugger of the city rivals said, “Everybody knows Judge can do that.” This praise came before the Yankees captain slugged a grand slam in Game 1 against the city rivals. Currently, the 2022 AL MVP leads the home run list with 30. Moreover, Alonso said the most underrated thing about the Yankees captain is his “Plate discipline and consistency to hit line drives.”
But most importantly, the city rival slugger said Aaron Judge is one of the best in the world. Moreover, Alonso said people generally overlook Judge’s ability to control the strike zone. Also, the Mets slugger said the Yankees captain consistently hit those line drives with “Tremendous strength.” Now, Aaron Judge boasts 12 homers over 23 games against the New York Mets. Pete Alonso and the Yankees captain have a lot in common. The Mets slugger broke Judge’s rookie season record of 52 home runs (2017), hitting 53 in 2019.
Yankees Captain Is Top Contender To Win MVP
Aaron Judge was nowhere near the list of top favourites to win AL MVP at the end of the first month of the 2024 season. However, things changed since he turned things around in May. So far, he has hit 30 home runs. Perhaps he is on a mission to break his own American League HR record. Clearly, he can do it if he stays healthy for most of the remaining games in the regular season.
The latest MVP contention standings, as per DraftKings Sportsbook, says Aaron Judge has a -140 odds to win the AL MVP title again. But he is someone who always puts the team ahead of himself. Hence, nothing less than making the World Series would make him happy. Moreover, this year, the Yankees have a really good chance, with the Judge-Soto duo looking stronger than ever.
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