New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is having a special season.
We are in mid-June, and he has hit 25 home runs already, after last night’s blast against the Tampa Bay Rays.
He obviously leads the league in the category, and the most incredible thing is that the second-placed players; Byron Buxton, Pete Alonso, and Austin Riley, have 18.
Judge has mashed against good and bad teams; in day and night games, at home or on the road, and against both lefties and righties: he has been a machine.
As a result of his efforts, he is currently on pace to set the Yankees’ single-season home run record, established by Roger Maris in 1961 with 61.
In fact, he is currently projected to mash that total.
“.@TheJudge44 is on pace for 65 homers. The chase for the big 6-0 is officially ON,” MLB tweeted after the Rays game.
.@TheJudge44 is on pace for 65 homers.
The chase for the big 6-0 is officially ON. 👀 pic.twitter.com/vWehSuH7eM
— MLB (@MLB) June 16, 2022
An Incredible Pace Considering The Circumstances
A 65-homer pace is something to behold, especially in a season that started with pitchers thoroughly dominating hitters and questions about how much the ball travels.
He has a long way to go (more than half of the season, really), but Judge is reaching a whole new level of performance.
He is not only showing enormous power, but has also been an incredibly balanced offensive performer, with a .313/.384/.683 line.
Playing for his next contract is obviously motivating him to post the best numbers he can possibly post.
He rejected $213 million before the season started because he thinks he can get more in free agency.
If he keeps up this rhythm, it’s not out of the question that he gets over $300 million.
The Yankees will have to pay a lot of money to secure his services for the long term.
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