About a month ago, there were concerns that New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge had begun his descent. As of April 22, he was hitting .174/.308/.337 with three home runs and 31 strikeouts. Now that Judge is 32 years old, it was entirely conceivable that his high-strikeout approach was starting to catch up with him.
Let’s just say there aren’t too many worries now.
Facing the San Francisco Giants on Friday, Judge hit his 19th home run of the season to take sole possession of the MLB lead in long balls. With runners on the corners, one out and the count full, Judge took a well-placed splitter from Giants starter Jordan Hicks and placed it in the left field stands.
The crazy thing is that the 104.4 rocket wasn’t even Judge’s hardest-hit ball of the game, as he also hit a 110.9 mph single in the first inning.
Judge was previously tied with Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson and Houston Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker at 18 home runs.
However, that home run didn’t just give Judge the MLB lead. According to MLB Network, it also broke a record previously held by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig for most extra-base hits ever by a Yankee in May, with 25.
While it’s a specific statistic, it still shows how unstoppable Judge has been since he turned it on. He entered Friday hitting an unfathomable .355/.479/.871 in May, reaching 13 home runs for the month to go with Hicks. He now leads the AL in doubles, home runs, walks, slugging percentage, total bases and OPS.
That effort, alongside AL on-base percentage leader Juan Soto and a surprisingly strong Yankees rotation, gives the Yankees a 39-19 record on Friday, good for first place in the AL East.
