No. 3: Aaron Judge – 2017 New York Yankees
For me, Aaron Judge has one of the prettiest follow-throughs in the league and he showed it off in his first full MLB season in 2017. After struggling in 2016 (played 27 games), he bounced back in a huge way for the Yankees which led him to be my third best ROY performance. Judge propelled the Yankees to the ALCS in 2017, where they ended up losing to the Houston Astros in seven games. What warrants him to be right behind Mike Trout?
For starters, Judge set the rookie home run record in 2017 after hitting 52 during the regular season (the record would later be broken by Pete Alonso in 2019). Not only did Judge hit 50+ dingers, but he also drove in 114 runs, batted .284, and a slugging percentage of .627. While leading the league in home runs, he was also able to steal nine bases and post a 171 OPS+. Trout had a 168+ OPS in his rookie season.
Judge finished with a 7.2 offensive WAR and 0.2 defensive WAR during his rookie campaign. Like Trout, Judge was an All-Star, won the Silver Slugger, and finished second in MVP voting. Judge finished behind Jose Altuve that season who led the team to a controversial World Series win. Judge is 28-years-old and has not had Mike Trout-like success but is still an important part of the Yankees team. Judge will enter his sixth season in the MLB next spring.