Yankees’ Aaron Judge wins 2nd MVP unanimously to join exclusive club

Aaron Judge’s performance in October won’t be forgotten any time soon.
Judge hit .184 with 20 strikeouts in 49 at-bats over the course of the Yankees’ playoff run. His drop on a routine fly ball to center field in Game 5 of the World Series was the beginning of a fifth-inning defensive meltdown, allowing the Dodgers to come back and ultimately close out the series.
Considering Judge is expected to lead the Yankees on both sides of the ball — and he has a track record of disappointing production in the playoffs offensively over his career — it’s no surprise that the captain has been subject to widespread criticism.
Don’t let that be a distraction from the type of year Judge had in the regular season, though.
Judge had an all-time campaign this year. He turned an uncharacteristic start to the season into one of the best single-season performances by a right-handed hitter in MLB history.
That’s why Judge was named the Most Valuable Player in the American League for the second time in his career on Thursday night.
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RESTORING THE GLORY
Judge won the award unanimously, earning all 30 first-place votes to beat out Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. — who finished second — in a landslide. Juan Soto, who had a career year of his own hitting one spot in front of Judge in the Yankees’ lineup this year, finished third in the AL MVP race.
With two MVP Awards to his name, Judge is the seventh player in Yankees history to win multiple MVPs. He joins Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Alex Rodriguez. Judge and Mantle are the only Yankees to ever win the award unanimously.
Judge led the league in countless offensive categories this year. He swatted 58 home runs and drove in 144 runs while posting a spectacular 1.159 OPS. Judge worked a league-high 133 walks and his 11.2 FanGraphs WAR was the best in baseball.
There was an extended stretch over the summer where Judge was on a pace to reach and possibly break his own single-season home run record (62 in 2022, his other MVP season). The same goes for a bid at a Triple Crown. Judge finished the year with a career-best .322 batting average, the third-highest mark in the American League. He was 11 points lower than Witt.
The stretch that truly defined his season began on April 27. Judge entered play on that day in Milwaukee with a .178 batting average and .674 OPS on the season. He had only four home runs with 35 strikeouts across 27 games.
Over his next 100 games, through August 23, Judge hit .378 with 45 home runs. It was the first time in MLB history a player batted higher than .375 with 45-plus homers in a stretch of 100 games within a single season.
Judge was scheduled to speak with reporters on a conference call Thursday night shortly after the MVP announcement. He declined to attend and no explanation was given.
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Max Goodman may be reached at [email protected].