Aaron Judge's Historic May

Aaron Judge went out to San Francisco Giants games at what is now Oracle Park as a kid, and he would cap off an incredible month of May by breaking into the record books again and solidifying himself into the 2024 American League MVP race in that ballpark on the month’s final day.

Judge, a star outfielder for the New York Yankees and the American League MVP in 2017 and 2022, hit his 13th and 14th home runs of May on Friday, a day that Yankees media had a field day regarding baseball insider Jon Heyman’s misleading post on X, formerly Twitter, about Judge signing with the Giants in the 2023-24 offseason.

Judge was in a slump considering his standards when May began, as he had a batting average of .207 and an OPS of .754 coming into the month, well below his career averages of .282 and .988, respectively.

Judge played second fiddle to prized trade acquisition Juan Soto, an outfielder who came over to the Yankees from the San Diego Padres in the 2023-24 offseason and ended April with a .325 average and a 1.019 OPS, for the first month.

Judge, who leads the majors with 21 home runs, led the majors in May with 14 homers, a 1.397 OPS, a .479 on-base percentage, a .918 slugging percentage and 3.0 fWAR.

Historically, Judge broke Lou Gehrig’s Yankees record of 12 doubles and 12 home runs in a calendar month with 12 and 14, respectively.

According to Katie Sharp, a writer for The Athletic New York, Judge joined Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Jimmie Foxx, some of baseball’s greatest hitters of all time, as the only players in MLB history to record at least 25 extra-base hits and 22 walks in a single month.

Judge, now on track to finish with about 55 home runs in 2024, leads the Yankees, who are the hottest team in the American League with five straight wins as part of a 7-2 West Coast road trip, with Soto and the pitching staff.

The Yankees, who are tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for the best record in baseball at 42-19, will be tested in the first half of June, as they will face a six-series stretch starting Tuesday featuring five of the ten teams with the best records in baseball and their biggest rivals in the Boston Red Sox.

With his historic May, Judge has the best odds for the league’s MVP as he goes against Soto, Baltimore Orioles infielder Gunnar Henderson, Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and Houston Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker.

All stats and records are as of before the games on June 4, 2024.

Owen Klein is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ojk5092@psu.edu.