Aaron Judge is off to a torrid start to the 2020 MLB season and is absolutely locked in.
The New York Yankees slugger has homered in five straight games and has six on the season. He joins Alex Rodriguez (six in 2007) and Babe Ruth (five in 1932) as the only players in Yankees history to hit five home runs in the first eight games of the team’s season. Rodriguez won MVP that season, which is the type of path Judge seems to be on.
Judge homered in the second and again in the eight inning of the Yankees’ 9-7 win over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday. He’s up to 14 RBIs on the season, and his home runs have come in all wins for the Yankees, which are now an MLB-best 7-1.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone praised Judge after the game, saying the outfielder is “on a mission”.
“I really think he’s on a mission right now,” Boone said, via MLB.com Yankees reporter Bryan Hoch. When he got that clean bill of health right before Summer Camp started and he started ramping up, there’s just been an intensity level and energy level to the work he’s been able to do.”
Teammate Luke Voit said the key to Judge’s success is his health. He reminded fans that when healthy, Judge is an MVP-caliber player.
The 28-year-old has dealt with injuries the last two seasons that kept him from playing more than 112 games in a season. Now that he’s healthy, he’s back to his 2017 form, which was when he smashed 52 home runs to win the AL Rookie of the Year award and finish second in AL MVP voting.
