New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge achieved a career first in 2025 as he vies for a third American League Most Valuable Player honor.
Judge went 1-for-4 in Sunday’s 3-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles, which was more than enough to secure the AL batting title. With a .331 average, he finished well ahead of Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette and Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson (.311).
The 6’7″ star has come a long way from when he batted .284 and struck out 208 times in his first full season in 2017. The year before that, he had a paltry .179 average in 95 MLB plate appearances.
“He’s always a guy trying to get a little bit better and move the needle on adjustments he needs to make,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. “He takes a lot of pride in hitting for average. I think it means a lot to him.”
This will be another data point in the tight MVP battle between Judge and Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh.
Judge (9.7) owns a decisive edge over Raleigh (7.3) in terms of WAR at Baseball Reference. The gap at FanGraphs is closer with the pair sitting at 10.1 and 9.1 WAR respectively.
Judge also led all of MLB in on-base (.457) and slugging percentage (.688) while drawing an AL-high 124 walks.
Raleigh, meanwhile, hit an MLB-best 60 homers to set a single-season record for a catcher. He also drove in 124 runs, the most in the AL, and played a pivotal role in the Mariners winning their first division title since 2001.
Both players have a compelling MVP case.
All things considered, Judge is arguably the slight favorite, but a Raleigh win won’t come as a massive shock.
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