Aaron Judge has been on the top of his game since May 2024. However, he had a pretty slow start to the current season. The first month of the ongoing regular season was not too good for the 2022 AL MVP. He took seven games to slug his first homer of the season. However, the good news for the New York Yankees was that they have Juan Soto this year. Hence, they did not have to rely completely on the California native, like in the previous seasons. Moreover, the combination of the Dominican slugger and the Yankees captain in the offense made the lineup one of the best in the league.
But it was not until the month of May when Aaron Judge started finding his groove back. He turned things around since the second month of the regular season. At present, he is the leader of the most home runs in the league this season. Lately, teams have been using the tactics of intentionally walking the top AL MVP contender to save some runs. It has been a pretty good season for Judge so far. However, he also had his first career ejection this year.
How The First Career Ejection Changed Aaron Judge?
On May 4, 2024, Aaron Judge received his first MLB career ejection. That was not a happy Saturday for the Yankees outfielder cum captain. He made sure he turned things around on Sunday. In his first at-bat since the ejection, the California native showed intent to prove how good he is. Previously, the NY side’s captain was having a hard time with an early season slump throughout the month of April. In the first 35 games of the ongoing season, the 2022 AL MVP was hitting .209 with six home runs and 43 strikeouts. Then, he entered the afternoon game on May 5, 2024, against the Detroit Tigers. Clearly, he returned with some fire as he hit the best pitcher this season, Tarik Skubal, for an opposite field home run in the first inning.
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Drilling the Tigers starting pitcher for an opposite field homer was a clear indication of what to expect from Aaron Judge for the rest of the season. That was just the beginning of Judge’s epic turnaround. Moreover, the Bronx Bombers needed their captain to lead from the front and that’s exactly what he has been doing. Juan Soto was the Player of the month in April. Since then, Aaron Judge has clearly been the best slugger of the NY side, leading the league in several offensive categories. Clearly, the first career ejection had lit up a fire inside Judge.
Can The Judge-Soto Duo Help The Yankees Win AL East This Year?
It has been a while since the Yankees have been on the top of the American League East division. Since June 13, the NY side went through a slump that saw them lose the top spot to the Baltimore Orioles. But after the Midsummer Classic, things started changing again gradually. Both Aaron Judge and Juan Soto was part of the AL team in the All-Star game.
Eventually, they won against Shohei Ohtani’s National League. Perhaps, the Judge-Soto duo and the whole Yankees team needed that break to rejuvenate. Finally, the Bronx Bombers are back on top of AL East after beating the Chicago White Sox in Game 2. Currently, the Pinstripes are 71-50, having played one game more than the Orioles.
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