Aaron Judge is finishing another MVP season strong as he prepares to lead the Yankees into the playoffs. After a career-high 16-game homerless drought, Judge is back bangin’.
Aaron Judge put himself in rare company this week, joining Babe Ruth, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Alex Rodriguez as the players in Major League history to have three 50 home runs seasons.
Judge is a standout among this group being one of the only to do so without having any steroid allegations. For that, he earns the top spot on Week 21 of our #HighFive list.
This week was full of accomplishments for Judge as not only did he become the first MLBbro to hit 50 home runs in three different seasons, but he also reached 1,000 base hits. Judge has more homers today than he did at this same point of the season back in 2022 when he finished with an American League record 62 home runs in a season.
Sunday, he hit bro bombs 50 and 51, but the highlight of his week came on Monday in D.C. when he robbed a homer in center field and got the ball back to the infield in time to double off a speedy C.J. Abrams.
HOME BOI HIGHLIGHTS | Aaron Judge Becomes First MLBbro To Post Three 50+ Homer Seasons
Judge was awarded the American League Player of the Week award for his efforts. He has a slashline of .318/.500/.909 with four homers, six RBI, seven walks and a stolen base over his last seven games.
Lawrence Butler is on a heater, similar to the one he went on in July that saw him become one of the better hitters in baseball after making a slight adjustment to his stance.
He led off Wednesday’s game with a bro bomb and is currently riding a seven-game hitting streak. Butler has three home runs in his last five games, giving him 16 on the season. Over the last seven games, Butler has a .303 average with a 1.095 OPS, seven RBI and two stolen bases.
Watch Out | The Lawrence Butler Storm Continues With Back-To-Back Bro Bomb Games
His A’s will travel to Arlington, Texas this weekend for the final time representing Oakland to take on the Rangers in a three-game series.
Jazz Chisholm returned to the Yankees lineup and immediately hopped on the bandwagon being carried by Aaron Judge; but he is doing his part to keep the Yankees going forward in their push for the American League East title.
Chisholm was the biggest name to move at the deadline and since arriving in New York, he has been a perfect fit to their puzzle. After being sent to the Injured List to deal with an elbow injury, he has come back without missing a beat at the plate. He is hitting .273 with two home runs and a .940 OPS over the last seven days. His 22 home runs and career-high 28 steals give Chisholm Jr. the first 20/20 season of his career.
It may be a longshot to reach the 30/30 mark, but the 2023 MLB The Show cover boy could use the short porch in Yankee Stadium to make it become a reality.
Will Benson takes the fourth spot on our #HighFive list after hitting a go-ahead three-run bomb in the bottom of the seventh against the Athletics. For Benson, it was his first home run in a month and the 13th of his season.
Will Benson Gives Honest Take On His Inconsistency At The Plate
He went through a tough stretch for most of August that saw him only going 2-for-20 until August 21st, but he has improved since then, hitting .333 over the last seven days.
Bo Naylor is becoming one of the better defensive catchers in the Majors, but he showed out with his bat this week to help the Guardians salvage a game in what was a crucial series for the American League Central pennant. His 11th home run of the year ignited a late inning comeback for Cleveland, who is currently holding onto their A.L. Central lead by a thread.
“It has been a long stretch from the beginning of the season until now and there is still a long way to go,” said Naylor. “We are not stopping or letting any adversity get to our head. Just keep competing and hope we end up on the right side of things.”
Josh & Bo Naylor Are Playing Their First Full MLB Season Together | MLBbros For Real
As the MLB postseason rapidly approaches, the good old days of World Series lore spread over decades is a possibility as the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees are again the class of baseball.
Both teams have the best players in their respective leagues in Shohei Ohtani (Dodgers) and Aaron Judge (Yankees) with plenty of statistics to back it up.
Both are having historical seasons that supersede their superstar careers.
Judge, who broke the American League home run record with 62 in an MVP season, is on pace to break his own record while becoming an even more efficient hitter. He has dominated baseball at the plate at such a level that many are bypassing the “Steroid Era” and placing him next to the one and only Babe Ruth.
Shohei Ohtani, who is compared to Ruth based on his ability to pitch at a high level and hit for power, has put pitching on the shelf for this season. But that doesn’t mean his contributions haven’t been electric. Ohtani is on a short list of players who have accomplished hitting over 40 home runs (he stands at 41) and stealing more than 40 bases (40). The Dodgers superstar has an outside chance of being the only player to join the 50-50 club.
It was enough of a possibility that ESPN’s Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser discussed whose accomplishments were greater on Pardon The Interruption…
But we begin today with Aaron Judge hitting home runs number 50 and 51 yesterday… pic.twitter.com/LuoCQFHLFv
— PTI (@PTI) August 26, 2024
Guess which player is a slam dunk for winning league MVP and who isn’t? Yes, our MLBbro Aaron Judge!
While MLB should be ordering Aaron Judge’s name to be stenciled for the AL MVP trophy, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal believes Kansas City Royals shortstop, Bobby Witt Jr. should be considered. He based his opinions on these factors…
Witt Jr. leads all of baseball as of this writing with a .347 batting average. Aaron Judge has an average of .333.
Witt Jr. has made an impact on the basepaths with 27 compared to our MLBbro’s six. This puts him on pace for a back-to-back 30-30 season.
Finally, with the comparisons in the field, Rosenthal based on the analytics and advanced stats calls Witt Jr. the best defensive player in baseball and Judge one of the worst.
Well…film don’t lie, as they say.
Usually posting #MLBbro Aaron Judge hitting Bro Bombs but this time he takes one away on this amazing play 🔥🔥🔥 https://t.co/hnyAucrN0w
— MLBbro.com (@MLBbrodotcom) August 27, 2024
MLBbro.com is biased towards Black and brown players because…that’s who the staff covers exclusively. But that does not matter in this case. Since April 27, 2024, the reigning AL Player of the Week is the first MLBbro to hit over 50 home runs in three seasons breaking a tie with MLBbro icons, Ken Griffey Jr. and the late Willie Mays…
HOME BOI HIGHLIGHTS | Aaron Judge Becomes First MLBbro To Post Three 50+ Homer Seasons pic.twitter.com/uCADpEYUQt
— MLBbro.com (@MLBbrodotcom) August 26, 2024
His power combinations with teammates have been electric. He shares home runs in the same game this season with not one but two teammates in Giancarlo Stanton and Juan Soto with 12. But last weekend, the last ingredient to an MVP story is history that has been made. When all three hit back-to-back-to-back homers, it was the first time three former Home Run Derby champions had accomplished the feat!
This is the first time in MLB history that three former HR Derby Champs all were part of back-to-back-to-back HR in a game! pic.twitter.com/CJEoPIvNMG
— Greg Harvey (@BetweenTheNums) August 25, 2024
The AL MVP chase is over. The only question is…Will Judge take the Triple Crown?
Aaron Judge continues to prove why he’s a Top 5 power hitter in the history of the game. His 2024 MVP campaign is one for the ages.
Aaron Judge is on track to have one of the best offensive seasons in Major League history.
His two-homer game Wednesday highlighted another week where he finished with a batting average above .400, earning him his regular place atop our #HighFive list for Week 20.
With offense down across the Majors, what Aaron Judge is doing at the plate in 2024 is much more special than I think most people realize.
Consider this: Judge entered Thursday leading the Majors in home runs, RBI, OBP, slugging percentage, extra base hits and total bases while sitting second in batting average and walks.
Comparing his numbers now to his record-breaking 2022 season through 127 games, he has driven in more runs and has a higher in average, slugging percentage and OPS while sitting just two home runs off his pace.
Judge homered three times in the first two games of the Yankees series against the Guardians, including two on Wednesday night to raise his league leading total to 47.
Aaron Judge Has AL MVP In The Bag, But Can Mookie Betts Make A Late Run At Shohei Ohtani?
The “dog days” of August do not seem to be slowing him down as this has been the best month of what will likely be his second career MVP season.
With a little over a week to go this month, he is slashing .450/.577/.933 with eight home runs, 18 RBI and 17 walks (eight of them being intentional.
Simeon Woods Richardson makes our #HighFive list for a second straight week thanks to two quality starts that led to two Twin wins.
Friday, in his home state of Texas against the Rangers he threw five innings and allowed just two runs on three hits.
Then on Wednesday, in hostile territory against a playoff hopeful San Diego Padre team, he went five innings allowing only one run on four hits and added seven strikeouts.
Woods Richardson continues to stack good starts together in what has been somewhat of a surprising rookie year.
Minnesota Twins Skipper Rocco Baldelli On Contributions Of Simeon Woods Richardson and Royce Lewis
Through 22 starts he has a 3.69 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 112.1 innings.
His next start is scheduled for Tuesday against the Atlanta Braves.
Marcus Stroman celebrated reaching 10 years of service time with a solid start in the Little League Classic Sunday night against the Tigers.
Marcus Stroman Is Showing Why He’s A True Jedi On The Mound | He’s Already Conquered The BX
That makes two solid starts in a row for Stroman, who struggled to end July and to begin August.
On Sunday he went six shutout innings, giving up just four hits and striking out five.
This after allowing just one run in five innings against the Rangers in his previous start.
Stroman also shined off the field last week when he awarded two $25,000 scholarships to two New York area college freshmen for his HDMH Foundation.
Although no date has been set, he should be slated to start against the Rockies in Yankee Stadium this weekend.
With each passing week, James Wood gets more comfortable at the Major League level, leaving me to believe that by next season, he will find himself in the conversation for the best outfielders in the National League.
In his last seven games he is slashing .409/.500/.636 with four RBI, a home run and a stolen base.
Woods had his fourth career three-hit game on Wednesday and has hit baseballs harder than most of the Majors since he was called up.
At the young age of 21 he is fifth in the league in average exit velocity, trailing only Aaron Judge, Ohtani, Juan Soto and O’Neil Cruz
George Springer takes the final spot on Week 20 of our #HighFive list on the back of a six-game hitting streak and a strong series against Cincinnati.
George Springer Is Doing Everything He Can To Keep Toronto Alive In Tough AL East
Tuesday night Springer launched two homers against the Reds then Wednesday he hit the 60th leadoff home run of his career.
Those 60 bombs trail only Rickey Henderson, who hit 81 in his 25-year career for the most All-Time.
Springer is hitting .286 with a 1.047 OPS and those three homers over the last seven days.
He will get a few more chances to cut into Henderson’s lead when they welcome the Ron Washington led Angels to “The Six.”
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