Is Yankees' Aaron Judge having the luckiest season of all-time?

Aaron Judge is having an incredible 2025 season. We aren't here to question that. However, has luck played a significant role in the New York Yankees slugger's scorching hot start to the '25 campaign?

Judge, a two-time MVP, has hit .293 for his big league career. In 2025, though, Judge is hitting a jaw-dropping .423. No, he probably isn't going to hit over .400 all year long, but Judge is getting hits on a more consistent basis than any other player in the league.

His power production has remained steady as well. Judge's numbers in April were tremendous, and he is continuing to swing the bat well in May. However, how lucky has Judge been in 2025?

Aaron Judge's shocking underlying statistics

When Judge puts the ball in play, he's getting a hit half of the time. No, that isn't an exaggeration. Judge entered Monday's game against the San Diego Padres with a .500 BABip (batting average on balls in play).

For context as to how rare Judge's statistic is, the highest career BABip in a single season belongs to Ty Cobb, who recorded a .444 BABip across 146 games played in 1911 with the Detroit Tigers, per StatMuse.

The highest BABip in a full season since 1950 belongs to Rod Carew, who finished the 1977 season with a .408 BABip in 155 games played with the Minnesota Twins.

A high BABip often suggests a batter is hitting the ball hard. It also means he is getting quite lucky. The underlying numbers continue to suggest that luck is playing a role, as Judge is only hitting the ball hard 56.6 percent of the time, per Baseball Reference. That mark is respectable for most players, but it would be Judge's lowest hard-hit percentage since 2020 (42.6 percent).

He's also hitting ground balls on a more consistent basis. His 40.4 percent ground-ball rate would be his highest mark since 2021 (42.1 percent).

Unsurprisingly, Aaron Judge leads the league in hits. MLB's decision to ban the shift a few years ago is surely impacting his results. With all of that being said, what do all of these statistics truly mean? Do they take away from Judge's greatness?

What the numbers mean

If you watch Aaron Judge play the game of baseball, you will witness one of the most disciplined and intelligent hitters in the sport. He does an elite job of letting pitches travel before crushing the ball to the opposite field. If a pitcher hangs a breaking ball over the middle of the plate, Judge often makes them pay.

There isn't any perfect way to attack a hitter like Judge. He can pull the baseball, go to center, or drive the ball the other way. If you pitch around him, Judge is patient enough to draw a walk.

Luck is impacting Judge's numbers. Good things tend to happen when hitters consistently put the ball in play, though. Judge's numbers shouldn't be overlooked simply because of a high BABip.

The BABip suggests regression could come at some point this season — but Judge will likely still record better numbers than most players even with some regression.

Aaron Judge is the best hitter in the sport. His 2025 season has been lucky, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been remarkable.