Aaron Judge is once again on pace to make history, threaten his own AL single-season home run record
Sometimes, given the length of the Major League Baseball season, it’s easy to overlook or underestimate how good some players are.
One of them is New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge. Judge is understated, rarely “flashy” and has been the best hitter in baseball for so long that saying that feels boring or predictable.
But that shouldn’t change what he’s done in his career and continues to do in the first half of the 2026 regular season. Just a few years after breaking the American League single-season home run record, Judge is on track to make history once again.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge hits a two-run home run in the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles on May 4, 2026 in New York, New York. (Yuki Iwamura/AP Photo)
First, some context on how good Umpire is as a hitter. Judge hit 250 home runs with 540 runs batted in, 513 runs batted in, and an incredible 48 stolen bases from 2021-2025. This was despite him missing 56 games due to an injury he suffered in 2023 when he crashed into the wall at Dodger Stadium. He hit .306/.426/.649 overall, or a 1.075 OPS. He averaged 55 home runs per season. And again, that includes 2023, when he hits 37 in 106 games.
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Using more advanced statistics like weighted on-base average, a statistic that gives more credit to results like home runs, he leads baseball by a wide margin. Judge’s wOBA from 2021-2025 is .443. In second place is Shohei Ohtani’s .409 wOBA. For context, Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Ronald Acuna Jr. or Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are all hitting above .388 in this span.
With weighted runs created, plus a comprehensive offensive league and park-adjusted stats where 100 is the league average, the Umpire dominates here as well. His cumulative wRC+ from 2021-2025 is 193, meaning he is 93% better than a league-average hitter. Ohtani is once again in second place with 165 points. Juan Soto, the highest-paid player in baseball, ranks second with 160 points.
For his entire career thus far, Judge’s wRC+ has been 178, the third highest in MLB history behind Babe Ruth and Ted Williams. And yes, even ahead of Barry Bonds. It’s a pretty good company. And in 2026, even after turning 34, he’s somehow back at it again.
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Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees celebrates hitting a three-run home run against the Toronto Blue Jays in the fourth inning of game three of the American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium on October 7, 2025 in the Bronx. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
In 2022, Judge hit 62 home runs, setting a new AL single-season record. He has already made 15 to 40 team appearances in 2026. This put him on pace to score 61 goals in a 162-game season.
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The only two players to score 60 or more goals multiple times in their careers were Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa; both were linked to performance-enhancing drugs. Even the great Babe Ruth hit 60 or more home runs only once. If Judge hits that mark this year, he would be the first player to hit 60 home runs in multiple seasons without a PED union.
We have a long road ahead of us and injuries or a collapse could derail the campaign. But what we’re seeing from Judge isn’t a typical “best hitter in baseball” run. He claims to be one of the two or three best hitters in baseball history. And he’s doing it in an age where sales pitching is better than ever.
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Aaron Hakimi of the New York Yankees hits a home run during the sixth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on April 13, 2026 in New York. (Yuki Iwamura/AP)
The average fastball velocity in MLB this year has been as high as 94.6 mph. When the league moved into the Statcast era of pitch tracking, the average fastball velocity was 93.1 mph. Pitchers are throwing harder than ever before, and thanks to new metrics and understanding of pitching patterns, spin rates, and tunnel effects, hitting is harder than ever. Judge still puts up historically good numbers.
It’s easy to ignore how good Aaron Judge is. Especially considering the regional aspect of baseball fandom if you only see him play a few times a year. But he’s on track to make even more history in 2026, and somehow he’s underappreciated despite playing for the Yankees.
