Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani are unicorns in the MLB landscape today.
The reigning American League and National League MVPs are fresh off historically great seasons — Judge hit 58 home runs and was worth 10.8 WAR, while Ohtani posted the first-ever 50/50 season in MLB history — and they're right back on track to repeat this year.
With the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers squaring off for the first time since the latter bested the former in the 2024 World Series, Judge and Ohtani got a chance to trade blows for the first time in 2025.
Suffice to say, the two all-time greats didn't miss their chance to impress.
JUDGE GOES YARD AT DODGER STADIUM pic.twitter.com/xPq0QCKJ3V
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 31, 2025
SHOHEI OHTANI ANSWERS RIGHT BACK 🤯#FridayNightBaseball pic.twitter.com/PKH1PHWqDF
— MLB (@MLB) May 31, 2025
According to MLB.com, Judge and Ohtani became the first pair of reigning Most Valuable Players to hit home runs in the same inning. Just another bit of history for the two best players in the game today.
Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani on pace for repeat MVP seasons
In total, Judge went 2-for-5 with the first-inning blast, while Ohtani hit a second home run in the sixth inning, bringing his tally up to an MLB-leading 22 for the season. They have two more games left against each other in this weekend series.
Looking at the MLB leaderboards for this season, Judge and Ohtani are naturally atop nearly every notable category.
By wRC+, Judge is first (240), while Ohtani ranks third (187) behind his Dodgers teammate Freddie Freeman (192). Judge is also first in fWAR (4.8), followed by Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh (3.6) and Ohtani (3.2) in third.
Ohtani leads the league in home runs (22), followed by Raleigh (21) and Judge (19). Judge leads the league in batting average (.392) on-base percentage (.486), and slugging percentage (.750) by a mile. Ohtani leads MLB in runs scored (61) a similar margin.
It's just the truth that these two players are, by far, the best players in baseball currently. Judge appears to be a lock for his third AL MVP award, while Ohtani has as good of a case as anyone for the NL award, which would be his fourth total.
That's not to say neither player has competition. Raleigh is producing one of the greatest seasons ever by a catcher for the Mariners. Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong is on pace for a 40/40 season and could challenge to be Ohtani's first partner in the 50/50 club.
But Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani exist in a class all their own. The Yankees lead MLB in run differential (+110). The Dodgers lead the NL West with a 35-22 record and are one game behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the most wins in the National League.
Another Fall Classic between the two is in play. A repeat of MVP awards is becoming liklier by the day.