Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa are the only players in MLB history to have more than one 60-home run season. New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge could become the third.
In the bottom of the first inning against the Colorado Rockies on Sunday, Judge hammered an 82 mph changeup from starting pitcher Austin Gomber for a 431-foot home run to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead. The moonshot marked Judge’s 50th homer this season.
Judge hit an American League-record 62 home runs in 2022. According to MLB’s X account, he’s on pace to reach this mark again. Keep in mind that it’s still August, and the Yankees have 32 games remaining, giving Judge plenty of time to tie or break his record.
Even if he doesn’t hit 60 or more home runs again, Judge is still cementing himself as one of the greatest power hitters ever. Per Codify Baseball, Judge is one of five players with at least three 50-plus home runs seasons. The others are McGwire, Sosa, Babe Ruth and Alex Rodriguez.
Sarah Langs of MLB.com noted Judge now has 307 home runs in 964 games, 28 more than any other player through his first 1,000 career games.
Unsurprisingly, Judge is favored to win AL MVP for the second time in his career. As of Sunday, FanDuel Sportsbook gives him the best odds (-6000) to win the award.