‘A little older, a little wiser’: Why Judge thinks he’s better than in ’22
Bill Ladson
NEW YORK — Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge had a season to remember in 2022, winning the American League Most Valuable Player Award after leading the league in many offensive categories, including an AL-record 62 home runs.
Two years later, Judge is having another dream season and is the leading candidate to win another MVP trophy — and for good reason. Entering Monday’s action against the White Sox, Judge has a chance to become the first player since Miguel Cabrera in 2012 to win the Triple Crown. Judge leads the league in home runs (42) and RBIs (106), and he’s 19 points behind Bobby Witt Jr. in batting average (.347 to .328).
Judge was recently asked if the 2022 version of himself or today’s version is better, and he didn’t think twice. He said the ’24 version is the better player because he has two more years of experience under his belt — and is hitting behind teammate Juan Soto, which doesn’t hurt either.
“The team that we have, we have guys on base 80 percent of the time I come to the plate. So it makes my job a lot easier,” Judge said. “I’m a little older, a little wiser. I’m swinging at better pitches. When you swing at the right pitches, good things happen.”
When he entered the Major Leagues in 2016, Judge was known as a hitter who would swing at almost anything. During his first full season in 2017, Judge struck out 208 times. Now, it’s about keeping it simple by looking for a pitch to hit and in a certain area.
Judge’s patience at the plate is paying off this year and he is on pace to break his personal record of 127 walks that he set in 2017. Entering Monday’s action, Judge has a league-leading 98 walks with a .462 on-base percentage, which is a career high.
“The pitchers are going to try to make tough pitches on you,” he said. “They are going to nibble on the edges. You try your best to lay off those pitches. It was always an issue of mine coming up through the Minor Leagues. Swing at a lot of stuff off the plate — sliders off the plate, changeups down. As the years have gone by, I’ve tried to narrow my selection. There are certain zones I want to go after. It’s kind of worked out so far this year.”
Did Judge ever think he would top the MVP year he had in 2022? All he would say is that he tries to improve every year.
“In ‘23, I wanted to do better than I did in ‘22. But we fell short on that because of a toe injury,” Judge said. “I hope I can keep improving each year and we could keep having this conversation for years to come.”
