New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge is in his ninth season, and he has already been creating waves all over. With a 57.3 WAR, he surpassed David Ortiz‘s 55.0 WAR, which he achieved in 20 seasons. No wonder he’s drawing praise from his own manager to the crosstown rivals.

With a .390 batting average, 26 home runs, 760 RBIs, and a 1.265 OPS, Judge is in red-hot form.  For years, Judge has been the heart of the Yankees’ lineup, smashing home runs and making highlight-reel catches. But lately, the conversation around him has grown even louder. This week, those whispers turned into bold declarations as a former Mets general manager did something almost unthinkable: he compared Judge to one of baseball’s most untouchable legends.  

“Judge is the greatest Yankee hitter ever. Ever. And what Babe Ruth did cannot compare to what Aaron Judge is doing,” ex-Mets GM Steve Phillips exclaimed on MLB Network. For him, hitting against pitchers is much more difficult at present. Nowadays, hitters get to face a diverse range of pitches. The pitching is different, strike zones have shrunk, and whatnot!

And Phillips has got a point…

If we compare the stats of Aaron Judge, Babe Ruth, and Roger Maris, it says a lot. This year alone, Judge has already faced 156 pitchers. More remarkable is the fact that he faced 78 of them only once. On the other hand, Ruth faced 64 pitchers and only seven of them once. As for Maris, he faced more pitchers (1091), but only 14 of them pitched to him once. One surprising fact is that Judge faced 156 in a single year, while Ruth and Maris combined faced 165 pitchers over two years (1927 and 1961). 

So, basically, according to Phillips, Ruth became accustomed to facing the same pitchers again and again. “Familiarity benefited their hitting… Ruth faced the same guys over and over again, and the guys he owned, he faced over and over again.” But the same cannot be said for Aaron Judge. “He’s just averaging over one home run for the pitchers he faces,” Phillips exclaimed. Ruth averaged over three home runs per pitcher. So, there’s a massive difference, no? 

While for many, Ruth is a legend who transformed the game, Phillips feels that it’s not just the stats that matter. It’s more about the context of play. These days, we’ve observed that teams are planning their rotations to neutralize Judge. Most pitchers are world-class athletes because they practice a lot in the minor leagues and bullpen. Even with the statistics against him, Judge has consistently demonstrated his hitting prowess, acting with class and power throughout.

And there’s no denying that, despite debates, Judge will remain one of the icons donning the pinstripes.

Aaron Judge shines once again in the highly anticipated Red Sox-Yankees faceoff

The Boston Red Sox must be thinking themselves lucky at the moment. Just a few days ago, they handed the Yankees a defeat, and now, once again, they took advantage of playing at home by defeating the Bronx Bombers 2-1. The Red Sox’s ace, Garrett Crochet, was going great; in his 8 1/3 innings, he struck out Judge three times. But it was Judge who created a chance for the Yankees to win the game.

He blasted a homer in the ninth inning, and that was enough to etch his name in the history book. Other than Ruth and Matt Holliday, Judge is now the only player to hit a home run when the team was trailing by 1-0 in the ninth, and that too while facing their archrival.

Judge stepped onto the plate, carrying the entire weight on his shoulders. In front of him was Crochet, who delivered a fastball that touched the 99.6 mph mark. And then, bam! The swing of his bat and the sound that echoed in the stadium were enough to know it was out of the park. Well, it soared over the Green Monster at Fenway Park, eventually tying the game and setting the stage for a win.

However, despite stepping up when it mattered the most, Judge was unable to get his team over the line. In the bottom of the tenth inning, Carlos Narvaez hit a single, pushing David Hamilton to home. And that sealed the victory for the Red Sox.