New York Yankees’ captain Aaron Judge stepped into Camden Yards on Wednesday leading Major League Baseball in nearly every major offensive category. He wasn’t slowing down.
Aaron Judge keeps rolling, blasts 10th homer as MLB stat sheet remains his domain
Aaron Judge wasted no time making his presence felt on Wednesday, sending a 426-foot home run to center field in the first inning off Orioles starter Dean Kremer. The two-run blast, his 10th of the season, gave the Yankees an early lead and extended Judge’s hitting streak to 11 games and on-base streak to 27. It also marked the Yankees’ 15th first-inning homer of the season.
By the end of the game, Judge had added two singles and drawn an intentional walk, pushing his slash line to an otherworldly .427/.521/.761 with a 1.282 OPS and a wRC+ of 263. Despite his dominant outing, the Yankees fell 5-4 to Baltimore. Still, Aaron Judge closed out April with the best offensive numbers in baseball, leading in batting average, OBP, slugging, OPS, and WAR.
According to CBS, Aaron Judge’s April OPS+ of 250 placed him 150% above league average, and far ahead of the next-best hitter, Pete Alonso (219). Incredibly, it wasn’t even his best month over the last year—he posted OPS+ marks of 293 in May 2024, 288 in June, and 276 in August. No hitter has been in his league.
A historic run over the last 365 days
Since May 1, 2024, Aaron Judge has separated himself from baseball’s elite. In that span:
- Batting average: .362 (Bobby Witt Jr. is second at .333)
- OBP: .489 (Juan Soto, .408)
- SLG: .759 (Shohei Ohtani, .630)
- OPS: 1.248 (Ohtani, 1.019)
- Home runs: 62 (Ohtani, 54)
- WAR: 13.6 (Witt, 10.4)
His 229-point OPS lead over Ohtani in that span even outpaces Barry Bonds’ 2001 margin over Sammy Sosa (205).
At 33, Aaron Judge isn’t slowing down—he’s refining his game. He’s dropped his strikeout rate to a career-low 20.6%, better than league average, and continues to lead in average exit velocity. Since 2022, he’s hitting .312/.438/.678 with a 209 OPS+, averaging 60 home runs per 162 games. Only legends like Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, and Ted Williams have produced comparable seasons at that level.
Aaron Judge’s sustained excellence puts him in rare company. Just 20 players have ever posted a 200 OPS+ season, and Judge has done it across parts of four seasons. Among right-handed hitters, no one has matched his production over such a lengthy stretch.
“He is just so good at not leaving the strike zone,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “When you don’t make perfect pitches, he makes you pay.” Carlos Rodón was even more colorful: “Right now he’s Tony Gwynn. Next week, he’ll probably be Hank Aaron.”
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