Yankees’ Aaron Judge in MLB history rare air only occupied by Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds originally appeared on The Sporting News
It’s time to start talking about Aaron Judge as one of the few greatest hitters to ever play baseball.
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And the more seasons the New York Yankees’ 6-foot-7 superstar takes the field and shines, the easier the case will be to make.
For example, with the regular season’s conclusion on Sunday, Judge is now in one club that only has Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds ahead of him.
This stat was shared by MLB Network’s Sarah Langs: Only three players have ever had four or more consecutive seasons with at least 35 homers and at least a 170 Weight Runs Created +.
Judge is one of those three. He’s now had four such seasons in a row.
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Ruth actually did it twice (from 1926-32 with seven, and from 1920-24 with five). Barry Bonds also did it, with five seasons in a row from 2000-04.
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Judge actually has some active company. Shohei Ohtani just completed his third such season.
The only other two players to have three of these seasons in a row were Jason Giambi from 2000-02 and Willie Mays from 1963-65.
Judge is on such a different level.
It’s hard to really grasp it sometimes, but he puts up numbers of hitters from so long ago (Ruth) or such a different era (Bonds in the Steroid Era) that it doesn’t seem like Judge should actually be producing like this.
But that’s exactly what big No. 99 is doing. He’s as special as any hitter to ever step into the batter’s box.
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