Aaron Judge hit his 300th career home run on Wednesday night, and while that in itself may not be surprising, the speed at which he did it certainly is.
The Chicago White Sox intentionally walked Juan Soto to face Judge while trailing 6-2 in the eighth inning, which is certainly a choice.
Judge made them deliver. With a three-ball count and no strikes, Judge hit a 110.1 mph line drive off his bat into the left-field bleachers at Guaranteed Rate Field, giving New York a 9-2 lead with his 43rd home run of the season.
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Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees hits a single in the seventh inning against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on August 13, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
Wednesday night marked Judge's 955th career game (eight years and one day after his MLB debut). It's by far the fastest game anyone has ever hit 300 career homers.
The previous record was held by Ralph Kiner, who achieved it in 1,087 games (it took Judge 132 fewer games, almost a full season, to achieve it).
Judge is on a fast track to his second MVP award: He leads the majors in home runs, RBIs (110), on-base percentage (.467), slugging percentage (.707), walks (102) and total bases (301), all while his .333 average is second-best in baseball behind Bobby Witt Jr.'s .349.
He's actually putting up better numbers than he did in his 62-homer season two years ago, and at his current pace, even that record is in jeopardy. In all likelihood, Judge will become just the fifth player to have three 50-homer seasons, joining Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Alex Rodriguez.
With 300 homers in 955 games, that's a pace of 50 homers per season in 162 games.
Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees hits an RBI double in a game against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on August 12, 2024, in Chicago, Illinois. (Matt Dirksen/Getty Images)
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It's quite a turnaround for Judge. On May 2, he was hitting just .197 and Yankees fans were clamoring for him to be benched. But since May 3 (through Wednesday), he's hitting .387 with a 1.342 OPS.
Judge is in the second year of a nine-year, $360 million contract he signed after that season. His $40 million average annual value is the highest ever awarded to a position player, though his teammate Juan Soto He could top that next offseason.
That contract looked alarming last year because Judge missed a chunk of the season with a toe injury after crashing into a concrete part of the Dodger Stadium outfield wall. He was hitting .291 with a 1.078 OPS at the time of the injury but hit just .238 after returning. It doesn't seem like fans need to worry much more.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) celebrates in the dugout after hitting his 300th home run during the eighth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. (Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports)
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The Yankees hold a half-game lead over the Baltimore Orioles for the AL East lead with their 72-50 record.
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