New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone praised right fielder Aaron Judge as the “clear-cut MVP” of the American League after the slugger hit his 52nd home run of the year to lead the Bronx Bombers to an 8-4 home win over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday evening.
Judge is in a race for the AL MVP with Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, who has smacked an MLB-high 60 home runs, an all-time record for a catcher.
Obviously, Boone wants to back his player in Judge, who is hitting .447 in his last 15 games with eight home runs and 13 RBI. He’s been an invaluable member of a Yankees team that went through a serious midseason swoon but bounced back from that slump to contend for the East title and the AL’s top record.
After Friday’s win, Judge is hitting .330 (1.114 OPS) with 52 home runs and 111 RBI. He’s also scored 135 runs. His run total leads the American League, and his batting average and OPS pace the entire major leagues. Judge is the superstar of a Yankee team that’s won 92 games and is tied for first in the American League East with the Toronto Blue Jays. New York is headed to the playoffs at this point, with the only drama being whether or not the Yankees are able to steal the division before the season ends by Monday.
Raleigh also has a great case, though. He has done something no other catcher has done before, and that’s hit 50 or more home runs in a single season. The previous record was set by Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez, who hit 48 homers in 2021. Of course, Raleigh has beaten that mark by 12 homers (and potentially counting). In fact, he’s only two short of Judge’s American League home run record of 62, set in 2022.
Meanwhile, the 90-win Mariners have rolled to the American League West title and will be a top-two seed in the AL playoffs. Raleigh, of course, has played a major part in that endeavor as Seattle searches for its first-ever World Series appearance and title.
This is a tight race to say the least, and we’ll find out who wins the MVP in November. Until then, both Judge’s Yankees and Raleigh’s Mariners are fighting for a World Series championship. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the two AL MVP candidates even meet in the playoffs, perhaps in the American League Championship Series with a pennant on the line.
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