New York Yankees OF Aaron Judge hit his 19th and 20th home runs of the season on Friday, securing sole possession of the Major League lead. He extended his dominance on Saturday night, hitting his 21st home run of the season.
The blasts capped off a spectacular month for the Yankees captain, who hit 14 home runs in May, a full 180 from an unexpectedly poor April. And he has already gotten his June campaign off to a flying start.
Judge overtakes Jorge Posada for ninth all-time in Yankees home runs.
Judge took the Major League lead in the third inning of the first game of a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants, launching a three-run home run off Giants SP Jordan Hicks for his 19th of the season. The home run was Judge’s 276th of his career, breaking a tie with Jorge Posada for ninth in franchise history.
In addition, Judge’s home run was his 25th extra-base hit in May, surpassing Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig for the franchise record.
The Yankees captain continued his spectacular day at the plate with his second home run in the sixth inning.
Judge then homered again in the sixth inning, this time off of Hicks, for his 20th of the season, tying him with Mickey Mantle in 1956 and Tino Martinez in 1997 for the most home runs through May in Yankees history.
It is Judge’s 35th career multi-home run game, which ties him with Joe DiMaggio for fourth in franchise history. As if that wasn’t enough, the slugger is now on track for 54 home runs this season, a sentence that would have seemed blasphemous less than a month before.
Judge replaced the forgettable April with a remarkable May.
After a dismal start to the season, in which Judge managed only a.220 batting average and 11 extra-base hits in April, the Yankee Captain has rebounded in a big way, slamming 14 home runs, 36 hits (26 extra-base hits), 27 RBI, and owning an incredible slash line of.371/.488/.928. His 1.415 OPS in May is the second-highest by a Yankee since Babe Ruth’s 1.547 OPS in May 1928 (minimum 100 PA). Judge accumulated 2.9 fWAR in May, bringing his season total to 3.7 (tied for first in MLB).
Judge’s blazing hot. May propelled him to the top of numerous offensive categories. Judge now holds the Major League record for home runs (20), SLG% (.648), OPS (1.056), and WRC+ (194). The Yankee Captain hopes to follow up his video game-themed month with an encore in June.
The Yankees will need Judge to continue his hot hitting as June presents the most difficult challenge of the season, with games against the Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers, Kansas City Royals, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets, and Toronto Blue Jays.
June is already off to a fast start for Judge.
After capping off a fantastic season in May, Judge hit another home run on Saturday evening, bringing his total to 21. It appears that the captain’s domination from May will carry over into June.
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