David SchoenfieldMay 5, 2025, 07:00 AM ET
- Covers MLB for ESPN.com
- Former deputy editor of Page 2
- Been with ESPN.com since 1995
Aaron Judge has made the incredible look easy for long enough that we're running out of words to describe his excellence, so here's maybe the best way to sum up what the New York Yankees superstar is doing in 2025: There is usually a max exodus to the concession stands after his at-bats.
Even after going a mere 1-for-5 with a double Sunday, Judge is hitting an astounding .423/.510/.777. His eighth-inning double Sunday extended his hitting streak to 14 games -- he has hit .474 with 10 extra-base hits during the streak -- and his on-base streak to 30 games. Judge leads the majors in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS and hits, and is tied with Teoscar Hernandez for the lead in RBIs. He also leads in WAR along with adjusted metrics OPS+ and weighted runs created.
Somehow, after an astonishing 62-homer season in 2022 and then an even better all-around season in 2024, Judge has seemingly raised his game again. He's hitting at levels few have reached, joining the company of all-time legends of the sport such as Babe Ruth and Josh Gibson and Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle and Barry Bonds.
"We're watching one of the best ever to play this game," Yankees broadcaster Paul O'Neill said during Judge's latest hot streak.
It's hard to disagree with that assessment. His at-bats are worth holding off on that hot dog or beer run to watch. Let's dig into some of the numbers.
.423 batting average
Here are the highest batting averages through 34 team games since division play began in 1969:
Paul O'Neill, 1994 Yankees: .459/.562/.847, 9 HR, 31 RBI
Rod Carew, 1983 Angels: .449/.480/.593, 2 HR, 21 RBI
Luis Arraez, 2023 Marlins: .430/.483/.533, 1 HR, 12 RBI
Barry Bonds, 1993 Giants: .429/.539/.813, 8 HR, 29 RBI
Aaron Judge, 2025 Yankees: .423/.510/.777, 11 HR, 33 RBI
Judge comes in fifth. Yankees fans might remember O'Neill's start in 1994 -- he was hitting .475 through 41 games and remained above .400 through June 16. He finished at .359 in the strike-truncated season, winning the American League batting title. Arraez got off to that great start two years ago but stayed above .400 through May before finishing with a career-best .354 average.
Of course, Arraez was a singles hitter; Judge decidedly is not. He has kept his average in this area while hitting more home runs through 34 games than anyone else on the list.
There will certainly be some regression because Judge is riding a .500 average on balls in play -- it was .367 last season. But let's consider that. If Judge keeps his current pace of at-bats, home runs and strikeouts, but his BABIP drops to .367 the rest of the season, what would he hit? We get a batting average of .331 the rest of the way and a final average of .351.
He is also doing it in an era when the league-wide batting average is just .242. Since 1969, there have been nine previous seasons when the MLB average dipped under .250 (1969, 1971, 1972, 2018 and 2020 to 2024). Ignoring the shortened season of 2020, here are the top averages in each of those seasons:
1969: Pete Rose, .348 (16 HRs)
1971: Joe Torre, .363 (24 HRs)
1972: Billy Williams, .333 (37 HRs)
2018: Mookie Betts, .346 (32 HRs)
2021: Trea Turner, .328 (28 HRs)
2022: Jeff McNeil, .326 (9 HRs)
2023: Luis Arraez, .354 (10 HRs)
2024: Bobby Witt Jr., .332 (32 HRs)
Some of these guys had power -- but not Judge power. Assuming Judge's average eventually drops -- let's wait until at least mid-June before we start talking .400 -- he has nonetheless put a .350 season with 50 home runs in play. The only player to do that since the sport was integrated in 1947 was Mickey Mantle in 1956, when the Yankees outfielder hit .353 with 52 home runs.
1.287 OPS
Here are the five highest OPS totals through 34 team games since 1969:
Barry Bonds, 2004 Giants: .356/.621/.849, 10 HR 22 RBI, 1.470 OPS
Barry Bonds, 2002 Giants: .350/.603/.825, 11 HR, 20 RBI, 1.428 OPS
Paul O'Neill, 1994 Yankees: .459/.562/.847, 9 HR, 31 RBI, 1.409 OPS
Barry Bonds, 1993 Giants: .429/.539/813, 8 HR, 29 RBI, 1.352 OPS
Cody Bellinger, 2019 Dodgers: .415/.489/.847, 14 HR, 38 RBI, 1.337 OPS
Judge comes in only tied for 15th here, so in terms of raw numbers, we've seen these kinds of hot starts before. Context matters, however. Most of those starts came in the high-scoring era between 1993 and 2007 -- and four of them belong to Bonds. Even Bellinger's start came in the juiced-ball year in 2019.
So here's another way to look at Judge's dominance: Pete Alonso is the only other hitter with an OPS over 1.000 this season. As my ESPN colleague Jeff Passan posted about Judge on Saturday: "He is the best hitter in baseball and it is not particularly close."
The Bonds mentions are noteworthy because, as Jeff posited, it will be interesting to see if Judge starts getting the Bonds treatment -- meaning a lot of intentional walks. Judge will never get to the Bonds level -- he peaked at an absurd 120 in 2004, a season in which he hit .362, after totals of 68 intentional walks in 2002 and 61 in 2003 -- because the intentional walk is much rarer in today's game, but at some point, his total might go up if he remained locked in. That hasn't been the case so far as Judge has received only four intentional walks, about on pace to match the 20 he received last season, and the Rays went after him Sunday even though Judge was coming off five straight games with multiple hits. But you have to wonder if opposing managers will stop facing him, especially considering his OPS is more than 300 points higher than anyone else on New York's roster this season.
270 wRC+ (entering Sunday)
While others have similar hot starts in terms of raw numbers, when we use weighted advanced metrics, we can see the true context of Judge's performance. Entering Sunday, he had a weighted runs created (wRC+) of 270 -- a figure that adjusts for league and home park effects in a given season. Sure, that number will drop a few points and there is a lot of baseball to be played, but that would be the highest figure of all time, topping even Bonds' 244 in 2002 and 235 in 2001. Meaning that even with some regression expected throughout the next five months, Judge has a chance at a history-making season compared with what the rest of the league is doing at the plate.
To hammer home the point about Judge's place in history: His 218 wRC+ in 2024 ranks seventh all time -- and that was after he hit an uncharacteristic .207 with a .754 OPS and just six home runs in March/April of last season. You could say Judge took off from there, so let's take a look at what he has done over his past 162 games: .366/.491/.773, good for a 1.264 OPS. In other words, what Judge has done over these first 34 games is a continuation of what he did over the final five months of the 2024 regular season. It is absolutely a historic level of hitting.
20.3% strikeout percentage
All of these incredible numbers beg one question: How is Judge doing it? How is he getting better at age 33, when most players -- even stars -- tend to start fading?
Simple: He is making more contact. Check out his strikeout rates from each of his biggest seasons:
2017: 52 home runs: 30.7% SO rate, .284 average
2022: 62 home runs, 25.1% SO rate, .311 average
2024: 58 home runs, 24.3% SO rate, .322 average
2025: 52 home runs (pace), 20.3% SO rate, .423 average
He has taken the improvement from early in his career to his most recent MVP-level seasons to another level in 2025.
What explains the lower strikeout rate? Judge's swing metrics and chase rates are all in line with previous years, other than one thing: He's making a little more contact on the pitches in the zone. His directional hits are similar, so it's not like he's hitting the ball more to right-center or anything like that. The hits are just falling.
.845 slugging percentage vs. softer stuff
One thing that stands out is Judge's damage against softer stuff this year. He is slugging .845 against pitches 94 mph or less this season, and the fastest pitch he has hit for a home run was a 93.7 mph sinker from Tim Mayza. The complete list starting with that three-homer day against the Brewers: 88.2 mph cutter, 88.8 mph cutter, 85.4 mph changeup, 89.7 mph cutter, 93.2 mph four-seamer, 93.7 mph sinker, 93.1 mph sinker, 87.6 mph cutter, 91.4 mph sinker, 82.6 mph sweeper, 88.7 mph slider.
What does it mean? Are pitchers not challenging Judge with hard stuff enough? Well, Judge can hit the hard stuff, too. Check out his results against pitches of 95-plus mph the past two seasons:
2024: .380/.464/.686, 25.5% SO rate
2025: .500/.538/.667, 19.2% SO rate
No, he hasn't homered against a 95-plus fastball in 2025, but he's getting hits. Overall, 17.7% of the pitches Judge has seen this year have been 95-plus compared with 19.8% last season, so either pitchers are throwing him more offspeed or the Yankees have faced less velocity this season.
Going back to 2022, Judge has been a little weaker against breaking balls than fastballs -- generally true for all hitters, of course -- but he has also improved in that department since last season. Yes, he remains a little susceptible to sliders off the plate from right-handed pitchers, but you have to get to that two-strike count in the first place and that's getting harder to do.
Essentially, we're looking at a hitter at his absolute peak of talent, experience and aptitude. And here's the scary part: Judge hasn't really gone on one of his patented home run binges just yet. Buckle up.
