Aaron Judge, the star player of the New York Yankees, was miles ahead of the competition when it comes to 2022 performance.
Not only was he the only player to reach the vaunted 10-WAR threshold, but he did so by finishing with 11.4, the highest tally since peak Barry Bonds reached those heights in early-2000s.
The second-ranked player in WAR, Manny Machado, finished at 7.4.
That’s a four-WAR gap between first and second place!
Of course, the stat we have on our minds is the 62 home runs he hit, breaking Roger Maris‘ old American League record and becoming the first hitter who reaches 60 round-trippers since the steroids era.
The Power Gap Between Judge And His Peers Was Enormous In 2022
As it turns out, the gap between Judge’s 62 and Kyle Schwarber‘s 46 is the largest in MLB in a long while.
“#AaronJudge led @MLB with 62 HR. The next-highest total was Kyle Schwarber’s 46 HR. That difference of 16 HR is the largest gap between 1st and 2nd place across the Majors since 1932 (when Jimmie Foxx hit 58 HR to Babe Ruth’s 41),” Yankees insider Bryan Hoch tweeted.
#AaronJudge led @MLB with 62 HR. The next-highest total was Kyle Schwarber’s 46 HR.
That difference of 16 HR is the largest gap between 1st and 2nd place across the Majors since 1932 (when Jimmie Foxx hit 58 HR to Babe Ruth’s 41).
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) October 6, 2022
Judge was, indeed, a man against boys: when it comes to offensive performance, he had no competition in 2022.
Perhaps Shohei Ohtani could take away a lot of MVP votes because he dominated as a hitter and as a pitcher, but Judge just completed a top-20 season in MLB and a top-ten one in Yankees history.
In the process, he made himself a lot of money: by rejecting the Yankees’ seven-year, $213.5 million offer in spring training, he will enter the free agent market looking for a $300 million contract at a minimum.
It has been an incredible, unforgettable year for him.
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