Aaron Judge has been nothing short of a revelation this season.
After a few seasons where injuries slowed him down a little bit, the 30-year-old slugger has come back with a vengeance in 2022, carrying the New York Yankees in the process.
Yesterday, Judge blasted his 54th home run of the season, which now puts him seven home runs away from tying former Yankee Roger Maris for the all-time American League record.
Right now, Judge leads the MLB runner-up in home runs, Kyle Schwarber, by 18.
If Judge were to finish 18 home runs ahead of Schwarber, that would be the sixth-largest difference between the top two since Babe Ruth did it with 35 more homers in 1920 and 1921, 19 in 1924, 26 in 1926, and 23 in 1928.
Aaron Judge currently has an 18-HR lead over Kyle Schwarber for the @MLB lead
That would be the 6th-largest diff between Nos. 1 & 2 in HR for a season, behind only:
1921 Babe Ruth: +35
1920 Babe Ruth: +35
1926 Babe Ruth: +26
1928 Babe Ruth: +23
1924 Babe Ruth: +19— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) September 6, 2022
Judge Chasing The Babe
This is some pretty impressive history that Judge is chasing.
He’s got command over the MLB lead in home runs right now.
He could very well tie or pass 61 homers, which is the AL record set by Maris in 1961.
But more importantly, he could match Ruth in some very impressive history.
Judge has had that kind of season in 2022.
Whenever the Yankees have needed somebody to hit a big home run for them, Judge has been there to do just that.
With the Yankees struggling recently, they’ll need all the help they can get from Judge as he looks to make home run history in the American League and match Ruth in an important category.
He’s already passed his total from his rookie season in 2017.
That year, Judge came up with 52 home runs.
With just a month to go in the season, the home run race is getting exciting.
We’ll see if Judge can finish strong.
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