Not On Fire, But Having The Best Stretch Of All-Time

Aaron Judge did the most amazing thing Saturday, when he did nothing in front of a crowd of 40,438 at Yankee Stadium. (Nothing here means going hitless with a walk and a hit by pitch in four plate appearances, which is still a pretty good day, all things considered)

Judge did the second-most amazing thing Sunday, when he treated the crowd of 41,324 to exactly what it expected — witnessing Judge join some of the most select company in sports by hitting not only his 50th homer but also his 51st in the Yankees’ 10-3 win over the Rockies.

This is what it’s come to for Judge: It’s almost as newsworthy when he DOESN’T meet the almost impossibly high expectations he’s set for himself as it is when he performs like a video game cheat code.

“There’s no better guy for that moment and the opportunity every night — and that’s the point,” Giancarlo Stanton said Friday night. “He’s on the biggest stage. You don’t shy away from the biggest moments on the biggest stage.”

Becoming just the fifth player ever with at least three 50-homer seasons — joining Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa (four apiece) and Alex Rodriguez — almost pales in comparison to what Judge is doing this year and since May 3 in particular.

Judge’s 2-for-4 outing with the aforementioned two homers in his 129th game of the season managed to raise his overall OPS and its components an appreciable amount — from a .464 on-base percentage, a .725 slugging percentage and a 1.189 OPS to a .465/.736/1.202 triple slash.

Only four players not named Barry Bonds have posted an on-base percentage of .465 or higher over a full season this century — Jason Giambi twice and Chipper Jones, Carlos Delgado and Todd Helton once apiece. (Juan Soto finished with a .490 on-base percentage during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign).

Only three players have recorded a .736 slugging percentage or better in a full season since World War II — Bonds (three times), McGwire and Sosa. Jeff Bagwell had a .750 slugging percentage in 1994, when he suffered a broken left hand two days before the strike ended the season.

Judge has as many homers through the Yankees’ first 131 games as he did in 2022, when he hit 62 homers to break the team and AL mark set by Roger Maris in 1961. Only Sosa and McGwire have hit 60 homers in a season more than once.

Just imagine how good Judge would be if he hadn’t spent the first 33 games — a smidge more than 20 percent of the season — mired in a deep slump. Judge was hitting .197 with six homers, 18 RBIs and a .725 OPS (a .331 on-base percentage and a .393 slugging percentage) through May 2.

Since then, Judge is hitting an incomprehensible .383 with 45 homers, 104 RBIs and a 1.373 OPS (a .512 on-base percentage and an .861 slugging percentage) in 96 games. Those figures over a full season would be remarkable for even the most decorated of Hall of Famers.

Only 31 Hall of Famers have put together at least one season with at least 45 homers and 104 RBIs. Since Ted Williams became the most recent .400 hitter in 1941, only four players — Williams in 1957, Rod Carew in 1977, George Brett
Brett
in 1980 and Tony Gwynn in 1994 — have hit better than .383 while qualifying for the batting title in a season lasting at least 100 games.

Just six players have posted a slugging percentage of .512 or better in a season lasting at least 100 games: Babe Ruth (five times), Bonds (four times), Williams (twice), John McGraw (twice), Billy Hamilton and Mickey Mantle
Mantle
. The only player to record a slugging percentage of .861 or better in a season lasting at least 100 games is Bonds, who had an .863 mark when he hit his record 73 homers in 2001. And the only players to post an OPS of 1.373 or greater in a season lasting at least 100 games are Ruth and Bonds.

But those icons did it over a full season. Judge, once again, has done this over 96 games, which puts him on a 162-game pace for 77 homers and 175 RBIs. The 77 homers would break Bonds’ single-season mark while the 175 RBIs would be tied for the fourth-most all-time and the most since Jimmie Foxx had 175 RBIs in 1938.

This is, by any stretch, the greatest single-season 96-game stretch anyone has ever enjoyed. That’s the highest of high praise, especially for those of us who remember Eric Davis’ 1987 season (when, for the record, he was hitting .318 with 32 homers, 87 RBIs and 39 stolen bases to go with a .414 on-base percentage and a .668 slugging percentage for a 1.081 OPS in his first 96 games).

“It doesn’t even feel like he’s on fire to me or anything like that,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He’s just that good.”

Alas, there’s no chance in getting Judge to join the rest of us in marveling over what is taking place. For better or for worse, Judge has not only succeeded Derek Jeter as the Yankees’ captain, he’s also echoing Jeter’s championship-or-misery mantra and mimicking his inscrutable public persona. So any acknowledgment of his feats will probably have to wait many years, perhaps until Judge is standing on stage at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown sometime in the late 2030s.

Still, Judge’s poker face cracked ever so slightly when he grinned upon being told Boone didn’t think he was on fire.

“I agree,” Judge said. “Once we get locked in, I’ll let you guys know. There’s always work to be done.”

And history to be made.