Aaron Judge's latest home run tied an MLB record
It’s official: Aaron Judge cannot be stopped.
The New York Yankees rookie was at it again on Saturday, connecting for his tenth home run in a 12-4 win against the Orioles. In doing so, Judge became only the third rookie ever to hit at least 10 homers in the month of April. He matched the record set by Jose Abreu of the White Sox in 2014 and tied by Rockies shortstop Trevor Story last season.
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Like all of Judge’s home runs this season, it cleared the fence by a comfortable margin. That’s made all the more impressive by the fact Judge appeared to be jammed on the pitch.
At this point, there’s no sense challenging Judge. He’s getting the barrel of his bat on everything. And even when teams don’t challenge him, he’s showing increased patience. On Saturday, he reached base in all four plate appearances, including two walks, and scored four runs.
That’s helping out your offense big time.
Turning back to the homers, Judge’s 10 homers in his first 22 games also put him in elite company in Yankees franchise history.
Yankees w/ 10+ HR in team's 1st 22 games of season:
Judge
A-Rod (2007)
Nettles (1974)
Mantle (1956)
Yogi (1956)
Ruth (1921)— Katie Sharp (@ktsharp) April 29, 2017
With that in mind, it’s no wonder Judge is getting the superstar treatment already in New York.
The Yankees now use a gavel graphic and the Law & Order sound effect after Aaron Judge homers pic.twitter.com/Oo7qpdvfr9
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) April 29, 2017
Needless to say, Judge is demanding the attention of the entire baseball world. As are the Yankees, who at 15-7 now own the best record in MLB.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!