Aaron Judge has been one half of arguably the best current one-two punch in the MLB; Judge and Juan Soto, all season long, have been carrying the New York Yankees' offense on their backs. There is no better encapsulation of this than the way the duo demolished the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday night en route to an 8-1 victory — a win that gives them back the lead in the AL East for the time being.
Judge, in particular, has upped his game big-time with the race for the division crown between them and the Baltimore Orioles heating up. The 32-year-old outfielder has been a hulking presence on the plate, hitting two home runs and driving in three during the Yankees' crucial victory against the current AL Central leader.
In so doing, Aaron Judge's numbers now look even better to his historic 2022 campaign — the season in which he broke Roger Maris' longstanding record for most home runs in a single season for an AL player. As Jeff Passan of ESPN pointed out, the Yankees star's 2024 OPS of 1.187 through 127 games blows his 1.057 (through 127 games in 2022) out of the water — with no one “slugging this high in a full season” since Ted Williams did so in 1957.
The only caveat, of course, is that Judge had hit two more home runs (49) through the same number of games two seasons ago than he's doing now (47). But it's not like that is too egregious of an offense (it's not even an offense in the first place). Judge continues to flex his standing as the most feared hitter in the entire MLB — the question now is whether or not he'll be getting the love from voters once again with the AL MVP race between him and Bobby Witt Jr. sure to be the talk of the town for the next few months.
Aaron Judge and Juan Soto — Shaq and Kobe for the Yankees
The Guardians witnessed firsthand just how destructive of a duo Aaron Judge and Juan Soto are and have been for the Yankees throughout 2024. Judge's two home runs and his ability to somehow improve upon his historic 2022 campaign are sure to grab the headlines, but the way Soto took the Guardians and made mincemeat of them should grab its fair share of plaudits as well.
Related NewsArticle continues below
Soto began his demolition of the Guardians in the first inning, hitting a two-run home run off of Joey Cantillo. And then, after walking in his second plate appearance of the game, he cleared the bases with a double — giving him five runs batted in on the night.
It's simply marvelous how much work Judge and Soto have been doing throughout the season to prop up an otherwise inconsistent Yankees offense. Entering their Thursday night game against the Guardians, the two have been worth a combined 16.2 WAR this season. Just to put in perspective how much of a carry-job they're doing, the Yankees' other qualified hitters (Anthony Volpe, Gleyber Torres, and Alex Verdugo) have been worth a combined 3.8 WAR — with 3.2 of those coming from Volpe.
The good news is that a few hitters have been stepping up for the Yankees. Jazz Chisholm Jr. has been every bit as good as advertised, although he is currently on the injured list. Austin Wells has been a revelation as well. New York will need more contributors to emerge if they were to end their 15-year World Series drought.
