New York Yankees: Aaron Judge and the magical 2022 season

The 2022 Major League Baseball season will be one that Aaron Judge will never forget.

With his 62nd home run on Tuesday night, Judge punched his name into the record book by breaking the American League and New York Yankees single-season home run record established by Roger Maris in 1961. In front of a packed crowd in Arlington, Texas, Judge led off with a 391-foot home run against right-handed pitcher Jesus Tinoco to finally break history.

With his 62nd home run, Aaron Judge holds the new American League single-season home run record.

By blasting that home run, Judge added another aspect to an already magical season. The long ball isn’t the only part of Judge’s powerful arsenal, as the All-Star outfield can hit for average and spread the ball all around the ballpark. Judge began the final four games of the regular season trying to become the American League’s first Triple Crown winner since Miguel Cabrera in 2012. Going into the last game of the regular season, Judge fell just short of greatness.

Without the Triple Crown, what else can Aaron Judge do to top off a magical season?

The AL batting title was the missing piece to this tremendous 2022 season. Judge finished with a .311 average while Minnesota’s Luis Arraez logged a mark of .316. Even though Judge is second in that category, he is first in the other two Triple Crown categories with 62 home runs and 131 runs batted in.

With the Triple Crown out of the picture, is Judge’s resume still enough to win the MVP award?

Aaron Judge to win the Most Valuable Player award?

Judge led in two of the three major batting categories, but is that enough to win the MVP award? Who else deserves the MVP award other than Judge? The only candidate that comes to mind is Los Angeles Angels’ pitcher and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani.

Ohtani has played two positions majority of his career, staring as an elite pitcher and a dominant designated hitter. Ohtani has 15 wins, tied for eighth among starting pitchers, and is ranked sixth in ERA with a 2.33. As a hitter, Ohtani has 582 at-bats with a .273 batting average, 160 hits, 95 runs batted in, and 34 home runs.

After the conclusion of the regular baseball season, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) uses a voting vector to choose a winner for the most valuable player (MVP) award for each league. These writers provide scores of their top 10 candidates and it is safe to say that these two All-Stars will be on their list.

The question that many fans are going to argue to these writers is how much value do two positions hold? Ohtani as a pitcher and hitter, has been nothing short of incredible, but with Judge being a Gold Glove candidate, MLB leader in RBI, and MLB leader in home runs, it is going to be very difficult to turn him away.

I believe Aaron Judge is the clear winner of the 2022 American League Most Valuable Player award.

How can Aaron Judge top off this magical season?

After breaking the home run record, Judge can finally rest and wait for his next opponent. Judge can finally put his stressful record-breaking home run journey behind him and focus on the postseason. Look for Judge to be loose and relaxed at the plate, making him extremely dangerous. If the Yankees can win the World Series, can you imagine if Judge gets the World Series MVP? That would leave Judge with the American League single-season home run record, the American League MVP, World Series champion, and World Series MVP, all in one season.

If Judge can accomplish all of these milestones, he can officially punch his ticket to the Hall of Fame.

You couldn’t write a better story than what Aaron Judge has accomplished in 2022. The 2022 season will go down in history has Aaron Judge’s magical season.