Aaron Judge doesn't mind Shohei Ohtani chasing his 62 homers: 'Records are meant to be broken'
If Aaron Judge's 62 homers are going to be a one-and-done record, the New York Yankees slugger doesn't seem to mind.
Judge met with the media ahead of Wednesday's road-trip-ending game against the Los Angeles Angels and addressed what is rapidly becoming the story of the season: Shohei Ohtani's home run chase. The Angels phenom entered the game with an MLB-leading 35 homers through 96 games, only one long ball behind where Judge was through 96 games last year, when he broke the American League record.
When asked if he is "nervous" about the idea of Ohtani breaking his record, Judge was predictably diplomatic:
"Records are meant to be broken. It's just a record. It would be exciting for the game if he went out there and got 63-plus. We'll see what happens.
"I've still got quite a few years left in this game, so if he breaks it, that'll give me an opportunity to go out there and try to do something special. But I'm not really too focused on that right now."
Like many MLB figures, Judge was effusive in his praise of Ohtani overall:
"It's incredible. It's fun to watch. I don't like watching it in person when he's playing against us, doing what he's doing, but it's fun when you turn on the TV and see that he's throwing eight innings, striking out 10 and hitting two homers in a game. It's pretty impressive. Excited what he's done so far and looking forward to what else he does when we get out of town."
Judge was seemingly on pace for another home run chase this season, with 19 in 49 games through June 3, but he has been out since that day due to a toe injury sustained while running into a wall at Dodger Stadium. His return date remains hazy, while the Yankees try to stay within the playoffs in the historically competitive AL East.
How many home runs is Shohei Ohtani on pace for?
With 35 homers entering Wednesday and 65 games remaining on the Angels' schedule, Ohtani is on pace for 58.5 homers. However, he has sat out two of the Angels' games so far, so if you take his homer-per-game pace and assume that he'll hit in every game the rest of the season, you could say he's on pace for 59.2 homers.
Basically, Ohtani is not currently on pace to catch Judge, but there's still plenty of time in the season, and he is most definitely picking up speed. Ohtani has hit 20 of his home runs since June 6, a span of 35 games.
Ohtani doesn't need to hit 63 home runs to win AL MVP or sign the richest contract in baseball history this offseason. Both are already well within his grasp, as he is currently hitting .307/.392/.680 with a 3.50 ERA and 139 strikeouts in 105 1/3 innings pitched.
However, the idea of Ohtani breaking Judge's home run record one year after Judge set the mark while beating him for MVP would be a particularly juicy bit in the lore of Ohtani as a near-mythic player.
