NEW YORK — New York Yankees star Aaron Judge did it again — and made more history.
Judge earned his second American League MVP award, this one unanimously, on Thursday night, claiming it after posting an astounding 218 wRC+, the highest ever recorded by a right-handed hitter in either league.
Judge received all 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America to finish with 420 points, well ahead of second-place Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (270 points). Judge’s teammate Juan Soto (229 points) finished third.
Judge also won the honor in 2022 when he hit an AL-record 62 home runs.
Judge became the seventh player in Yankees history to win multiple MVPs, joining a group that includes Alex Rodriguez, Mickey Mantle (three times), Roger Maris, Yogi Berra (three times), Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig.
Judge finished the 2024 season with a majors-leading 58 home runs and 144 RBIs, and a slash line of .322/.458/.701. His 11.2 fWAR ranked as the 10th-best single-season performance in franchise history and the 19th-best of all time.
The 6-foot-7 center fielder was so dominant that his .701 slugging percentage was higher than the OPS of 11 teams.
“It’s greatness right in front of us,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said in September while describing Judge.
Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora called Judge’s performance “the best version” of his nine-year career.
Judge led MLB in the following categories: home runs, RBIs, walk rate, ISO, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, wOBA, wRC+, and fWAR. It was a campaign that was statistically better overall than his 2022.
He did it while hitting right behind Soto, who put up a career year with 41 home runs and is poised to land one of the biggest contracts in free-agent history this winter.
Judge also led MLB in Statcast’s run value metric against four-seam fastballs, sinkers and sweepers. Despite facing the highest volume of sweepers among all hitters, he slugged an incredible .816 against the pitch. Over the past two seasons, pitchers have frequently attacked Judge with sliders, hoping he would chase pitches off the plate. In 2024, Judge also faced the most sliders of his career. He responded with a remarkable .984 OPS against all types of sliders.
Judge is a perfectionist, constantly seeking ways to refine even the smallest aspects of his game as evidenced by the tweaks he made to his own swing this season.
Topping his 2024 output will be no easy feat, but if he does, another MVP trophy could bear his name.
(Photo of Aaron Judge: Jason Miller / Getty Images)
