SEATTLE — Aaron Judge is in the initial phase of assembling another contender for one of the finest offensive seasons by a right-handed batter in the modern era.
For the Yankees star, however, the benchmarks in that category are Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols, partly because of their ability to hit for average alongside power.
“I try to model a lot of the stuff I do after Cabrera and Pujols, the two best right-handed hitters I’ve ever seen,” Judge said before the Yankees defeated the Mariners 11-5 on Monday in Seattle. “So just trying to follow their lead and wherever I’m at in the lineup, I got to do my job. If I’m hitting third, I got to drive guys in. If I’m hitting second, I’ll get on base and do what I need to do for the team.”
In each of Judge’s MVP seasons, he has made a run at the Triple Crown before coming up short both times in batting average. In 2022, his .311 was just shy of Luis Arraez’s .316.
In 2024, he improved to batting .322 but was overtaken by Bobby Witt Jr. (.332) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (.323).
There still is a long way to go this time around, but he went 2-for-3 Monday with an RBI to raise his batting average to .414 with 14 home runs.
For a five-game stretch last week, Judge appeared to be human. He went 3-for-19 with a home run and three walks, dropping his batting average under the double-Mendoza line (.400) by Friday night.
His response? Crushing a pair of home runs Saturday and then going 4-for-5 on Sunday.
“Just another day at the office for him,” Ben Rice said with a chuckle. “It’s crazy, you sometimes catch yourself taking it for granted, what he’s doing. But it’s been so impressive to watch, so fun to watch him hit every day and go out there and help us win.”
Luis Gil is about two to three weeks away from getting a mound in his throwing program, Boone said, as he ramps back up from being shut down with a high-grade lat strain.
At this point, if all goes well, early July seems like the best-case scenario for the Yankees getting the 2024 Rookie of the Year back in their rotation.
Giancarlo Stanton (tennis elbows) could head to Tampa “soon” to get live at-bats, Boone said.
JT Brubaker, a starting depth option who has been out since fracturing three ribs in spring training, has advanced to throwing live batting practice sessions.
