Aaron Judge repeats as AL Player of the Month for June

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07/03/2024 10:46 AM

Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Yankees' captain reminded the world why he's the best hitter in baseball.

Back in 2022, Aaron Judge pulled off a season for the ages. The soon-to-be Yankees captain simply took over the sport by batting .311/.425/.686 with a league-best 1.111 OPS and 131 RBI while setting a new American League single-season record with 62 homers — surpassing Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg, and all the other Junior Circuit sluggers of legend. It was plain to see that even for a remarkable talent, this was a career year and something that fans might never see again.

Well here we are, two years later, and Aaron Judge is somehow doing it again. During that 2022 campaign, Judge won three AL Player of the Month awards en route to the AL MVP. He now has two in 2024 and MLB's first half isn't even officially in the books.

Judge captured AL Player of the Month honors for May, when he shoved his disappointing April to the side with a .361/.479/.918 triple slash with 14 homers and a 1.397 OPS. Now in June, he has officially repeated after hitting .409/.514/.864 with 11 bombs and a 1.378 OPS. The man is unreal.

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Judge is the first Yankees player to repeat as Player of the Month since Don Mattingly during the final months of his iconic 1985 AL MVP campaign. As a fun secondary note, the National League Player of the Month for June was also a repeat winner: Phillies masher Bryce Harper (.990 OPS in May and 1.166 OPS in June — terrific but also a testament to Judge's absurd work in comparison). In the 50-year history of both leagues handing out these monthly honors, it's the first time that both winners repeated their title in the following month.

Can Judge make it three in a row? He's already begun July on the right foot with a multi-hit game and his 32nd homer of 2024. He now has a 83 RBI, a 218 wRC+, and 6.1 fWAR in just 85 games. Appreciate the sheer level of talent while it's right in front of us, folks!

Now, to just get him more support at the Trade Deadline beyond Juan Soto to make 2024 really special for the Yankees.