Judge would stand tall in history by securing AL batting title

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BALTIMORE -- In an era where baseball conversations are flooded with launch angles, exit velocities, and expected stats, Aaron Judge still swears by one of the game’s oldest numbers: batting average.

It’s a stance he first underlined during his historic 2022 pursuit of Roger Maris’ home run record, focusing on an ability to blend power with consistency. Three years later, Judge is proving his point again.

With six games left on the schedule, he sits atop the American League leaderboard at .326, holding an 11-point edge over the Athletics’ Jacob Wilson as he chases what would be his first career batting title.

"I saw a lot of the greats. Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera, they always hit above .300. The power just came with it,” Judge said. “That’s always been a goal of mine, to hit above .300, and we’ll keep working toward it.”

This is hardly a new development for Judge, who was vying with Luis Arraez -- then of the Twins -- deep into the ’22 campaign, chasing what would have been a Triple Crown. But adding a batting title to a trophy case that already includes two AL Most Valuable Player awards would be an unprecedented accomplishment, given Judge’s size.

At 6-foot-7, Judge would be the tallest batting champion in history. The current record is 6-foot-5, a list that includes three Hall of Famers in Dave Parker (1977 and ’78), Frank Thomas (1997) and Joe Mauer (2006, ’08, ’09). John Olerud (1993) and Derrek Lee (2005) also stood 6-foot-5.

“The reality is, over time, you haven’t seen that many really tall people be great hitters,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “There’s a great advantage if you can figure it out and become a good hitter, because you have strength and leverage that smaller guys don’t. But it is a testament to how good he is at his craft.”

It has been more than two decades since a Yankee won a batting title in a full season; Bernie Williams paced the AL with a .339 average in 1998. DJ LeMahieu finished atop the AL in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, hitting .364.

“He works for it, but at the same time sometimes, you just watch him go,” said teammate Jazz Chisholm Jr. “It’s unbelievable how consistent he is. He’s hitting [.326] right now and [has] almost 50 homers. That’s just ridiculous, you know what I mean?

“Guys are throwing 100 [mph] every day. It’s hard. It’s really hard. And to do it the way he does it -- it’s not a soft .300, either. We always say guys hit a soft .300. He’s hitting an immaculate .300.”

Yankees hitting coach James Rowson said Judge winning a batting title would be “remarkable,” but it would come as no surprise.

“It doesn’t shock me because of who that guy is. We know who we’re talking about here,” Rowson said. “Every day, he comes out and does something special. To watch a guy his size hit for that kind of average and power at the same time, it’s a rare class. It shows you who he is.”

There are times when even the Yankees seem to take Judge’s prowess for granted -- Boone jokes that he’ll see Judge with a hit and a couple of walks, then shrug as if it were an off-night. Rowson said he hopes fans appreciate how special it is to see what he’s doing.

“I’m blessed, honestly, to be able to watch this guy every day,” he said. “I get a front-row seat to history every night. I see how he gets himself ready, how meticulous his routine is every day. He doesn’t take a swing that doesn’t have purpose. I think what people don’t realize is, with that size and body, the things it takes to be ready to play every night.”

While batting average has been devalued in recent years and considered antiquated in some circles, it remains important to Judge. When he returned home after his first 27 big league games in 2016, humbled by the best pitching he’d yet seen, Judge resolved to fine-tune his swing.

He left a reminder at the top of the Notes app in his iPhone: .179 — his average from 15 hits in 84 at-bats. The changes he made that offseason fueled his 2017 AL Rookie of the Year campaign, when he belted 52 homers while batting .284.

(It’s notable that Judge’s 2016 message to himself didn’t include his on-base percentage or slugging percentage, though he’s also on pace to lead the Majors in those categories this year.)

This will be Judge’s third season of a .300-plus average, all of which have come in the last four years. He hit .311 in 2022, rebounded from an injury-marred ’23 by hitting .322 in 2024, and may set a new career high this year.

A batting title would be meaningful for Judge, but he says it comes as a byproduct of showing up regularly and doing his job. Maybe that, above all else, explains his greatness: the daily grind, the routine, and his uncanny ability to make the extraordinary look ordinary.

“As a fan of baseball, I’m watching the best player in the league do his thing every day,” Chisholm said. “I’m in awe. We get to see a little bit more than anybody else -- when he’s not feeling the best, to still go out there and grind out two hits and hit ‘em 114 miles an hour off the bat. He’s a special player.”