Fresh off settling with the New York Yankees on a $19 million salary for 2022, outfielder Aaron Judge still has the drive to put up the best possible numbers this year.
He is already playing for his next contract, which will likely come after the season.
And boy, is he playing at a really high level.
In fact, if the season ended today, Judge would be the favorite for the MVP award in the American League, besting Yordan Alvarez and other stars.
This graphic tells you everything you need to know about what he has done so far.
A magical year for @TheJudge44.@Yankees | #RepBX pic.twitter.com/f6IIawQHlt
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) June 24, 2022
Nobody comes close to his league-leading 27 home runs so far: he is still on pace to hit more than 60, which would be amazing considering all the early-season reports saying that the ball “didn’t travel” as much as previous years.
Imagine how many long balls this version of Judge would have if MLB used the 2019 “juiced” ball in 2022.
A Season For The Ages
In any case, he already has 4.0 Wins Above Replacement, or WAR, one of the best figures in the league.
He leads the league with 27 homers and 58 runs scored, and is top-three in OPS and slugging percentage.
He also has 53 RBI for good measure, and he has played incredible defense both in right and center field when the team has needed him.
It has been a dream season for the longtime Yankee, who rejected $213 million before the season looking for a much bigger payday.
He is slashing .304/.379/.658 and is having the strongest offensive season of his career so far.
Oh, and he has the Yankees with a 52-18 record and 12.5 games ahead of their closest competitors, the Toronto Blue Jays.
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