Aaron Judge: 2024 Major League Player Of The Year

Image credit: Aaron Judge (Photo by Kyle Rivas/Getty Images)

The Yankees take the title of captain seriously.

Aaron Judge is the 16th captain in Yankees franchise history, following the likes of Derek Jeter, Don Mattingly, Thurman Munson, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth and others.

This season, Judge truly earned the “C” designation.

He led all major league hitters with a .458 on-base percentage, a .701 slugging percentage, 58 home runs, 144 RBIs, 133 walks, a 218 wRC+ and 11.2 fWAR.

He hit a career-high .322 to trail only Bobby Witt Jr. and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the batting race.

On top of his offensive exploits, Judge took on his largest share of center field. He made 105 starts in center and helped optimize the Yankees’ lineup as they won 94 games and claimed the No. 1 playoff seed in the American League.

For his overall awesomeness, Aaron Judge is Baseball America’s Major League Player of the Year. He won POY previously in 2022, when he led MLB in all the same categories that he led this season.

Below, we’ll recount our five favorite facts about Judge’s historic 2024 season:

218 wRC+

Weighted runs created plus is an index metric that places a hitter’s offensive contributions in the context of league run environment and home ballpark. Judge this season had a 218 wRC+, which means that he produced offense at a rate 118% higher than the average American League hitter.

Any hitter who reaches 200 by this metric is having an all-time season. Ten different hitters have reached the 200 wRC+ benchmark in a season of at least 500 plate appearances since 1901.

Judge cleared the 200 wRC+ benchmark for the second time in 2024, putting him in elite company. A total of 30 hitter seasons have registered at 200 wRC+ or better. Judge joins the likes of Babe Ruth (nine times), Ted Williams (six), Barry Bonds (four), Ty Cobb (two), Rogers Hornsby (two), Mickey Mantle (two), Lou Gehrig (one), Frank Thomas (one) and Mark McGwire (one).

Since baseball embarked on its expansion era in 1961—a total of 63 seasons—Judge is one of just four hitters to better a 200 wRC+ in a season of 500 PAs, joining Bonds, McGwire and Thomas.

Three 50-Homer Seasons

Both Judge and Shohei Ohtani reached 50 home runs this season, but don’t be fooled. Hitting the half-century mark for home runs is a rare feat.

It has happened just 50 times in baseball history. Judge has three of those seasons, making him one of just 10 hitters to hit 50 home runs multiple times.

In fact, just three hitters have more 50-homer seasons than Judge.

Number Of 50-Home Run Seasons

4 Babe Ruth, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire
3 Alex Rodriguez, Aaron Judge
2 Jimmie Foxx, Ralph Kiner, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Ken Griffey Jr.

With one more 50-homer season in the future, Judge will equal Ruth with four 50-homer seasons, the most ever.

Fastest To 300 Home Runs

Judge’s signature skill is his power, so it’s only fitting that he reached the 300-home run milestone faster than any hitter in history.

With his home run on Aug. 14, Judge reached 300 for his career. That blast was hit in his 955th career game, shattering the previous record of 1,087 games held by Ralph Kiner.

Judge hit his 300th home run in his 3,431st at-bat, which was 400 at-bats faster than Ruth (3,831) and a few ticks faster than McGwire (3,837) or Kiner (3,883), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Tallest Center Fielder

Not many major leaguers in history have been as tall as Judge, who is 6-foot-7.

Until this season, no player as tall as Judge had ever appeared in 100 games in center field.

Lowering the standards to 6-foot-6 and at least 25 games in center field, the list begins to populate with the likes of Dave Winfield, Darryl Strawberry, Corey Hart and John Mayberry Jr. But none of them were anything close to an everyday center fielder.

The best tall center fielder in history was 6-foot-5 Dexter Fowler, who logged eight seasons of at least 100 games played in center field. Alex Rios and Von Hayes, who also are 6-foot-5, have two apiece.

Judge truly stands tall among center fielders and might have helped the Pirates feel comfortable shifting 6-foot-7 Oneil Cruz to center field full time in late August.

Award Winner

Judge won an American League MVP award in 2022. He is the probable MVP this season.

Judge was American League Rookie of the Year in 2017, when he hit 52 home runs to establish a rookie record that Pete Alonso broke two years later.

Judge also won corresponding Baseball America awards in those seasons, making him one of the most decorated BA award winners. This is impressive because we hand out one overarching major league award, rather than break it out by American and National league.

The following players have won the most BA major league awards, whether Rookie of the Year or Player of the Year: