How New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge made home run history

Move over, Roger Maris: New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has hit his 62nd home run of the 2022 MLB season, setting the single-season record for the American league.

his 62nd home run, which gave the texas rangers right-hander jesus tinoco on tuesday in the yankees’ regular-season finale series, surpassed maris, who held the previous junior tour record with 61 homers in 1961. Judge also broke Maris’ famous franchise record, previously held by Babe Ruth, who hit 60 in 1927. Judge now joins Ruth and Maris as the only Al players to hit 60 or more home runs in one season.

so how did you do it? let’s look at the judge’s path to 62.

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Judge first hit a 50-season pace on May 13 after a home run against the Chicago White Sox, but went 49-50 for 10 days, until he homered twice on May 23 in a loss. against the Baltimore Orioles, bumping his projected total to 52.6. but he homered just one more time the rest of the month, lowering his projection to 50.9. no one was talking about 62, even though judge’s 18 home runs now top the majors.

after hitting 11 more home runs in June, the judge’s projection jumped to 54.2 (with a straight 61.0 pace). this was starting to get interesting, but you might remember that yordan alvarez hit .418 in june, and although he was behind the judge by six home runs, alvarez had much higher weighted runs created more (wrc+), hitting .316/.412/ . 658 to .286/.361/.627 from the judge. judge had 62 in his sights, but the debate over the best hitter of 2022 was on.

then came July, or, more specifically, a hot streak that began just before the all-star break and saw the judge hit 12 home runs in 14 games through July 30. his projected total was now 62.0 and his fastball rate of increase was a ridiculous 66.7 (and that number would peak on August 1 at 67.0).

judge slowed down a bit in August and a nine-game homerless streak through August. 21 lowered his projected total to 58.5 (with a direct pace of 61.1). He then responded with another barrage of power in September to make history and join Ruth and Maris in the American League 60 home run club.

It’s interesting how judge’s season continues with that of maris. Maris not only hit 39 home runs in 1960, the year before he was 61, but he also started slow in his record campaign, hitting just one home run in 15 games in April. Maris was a model of consistency after that, though, hitting at least 10 home runs in each of the last five months. Maris’ best streak was from May 28 to June 22, when he hit 19 home runs in 29 games.

Ruth’s career into his 60s was a bit different, as he hit nine home runs in each of June, July and August, before finishing with a bang: 17 in 28 games in September and October, including seven in his last nine games (including a homerless game in the season finale). Of course, Ruth only played 151 games on his 154-game schedule, leading one to wonder what he could have done with an extra eight games.

on the other hand, ruth wasn’t seeing too many 95 mph fastballs, and judge has hit 11 home runs on pitches of at least that speed.

See our latest coverage and favorite stories from the slugger’s historic season.

the path to 62 » | magical night of the 60 »

Free agency: $375M? » | 7 places he could land »

Where this season ranks all-time »

At the most basic level, Judge hit 30 of his 62 home runs at Yankee Stadium, one every 10 at-bats. he has hit 32 on the road, one every 8.8 at-bats. For the most part, Judge just doesn’t hit a lot of cheap home runs. His shortest shot of the season was a 355-foot shot to the right, but he got to a guaranteed field in Chicago. He has hit three 364-foot home runs this year at Yankee Stadium. I checked those three:

• april 22 vs. tanner tully: line drive to the third row of bleachers in right field. It’s not a massive blowout and maybe not in every park, but not one I’d call a cheap home run.

• June 15 vs. Shane McClanahan: Just over the fence at right-center. definitely a yankee ballpark home run given its dimensions in that part of the park.

• July 30 vs. Jon Heasley: Another cheap one in the same vicinity as the home run vs. McClanahan. In fact, if a fan hadn’t stepped up to make the catch, Royals right fielder MJ Melendez could have caught it.

  so, judge has received a couple of gifts from his park. but she has homered even more often on the road. that doesn’t mean she would have hit that many in every park. Statcast, using only his gross home run distances, estimates that Judge would have only 49 home runs if he had played all of his games at Comerica Park (where right center is particularly deep). but he would be 70 if he played all of his games in cincinnati or colorado. so there is no real home field advantage here. sit back and appreciate his feats of strength.

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  3. June 26: Elimination in the bottom of the 10th against Houston’s Seth Martinez to give the Yankees a 6-3 victory

  wpa: 0.360

  With runners on first and third and two outs, the stars chose to go after the judge. Martinez took a swinging strike on a slider on the first pitch, but came back with another slider, and Judge didn’t miss, sending a line drive low over the fence in left-center field. however, Judge almost missed a home run: he began to turn toward the dugout after reaching first base, before being reminded to finish his jog around the bases.

  4. May 22: White Sox’s Kendall Graveman home run that tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth

  wpa: 0.328

  Graveman tried to slide a 0-2, 97 mph sinker past Judge, but left him in the zone, and Judge drilled into the second deck in left field (although the White Sox would win the game with two runs left). the top of the ninth).

  5. Jul 22 – Three-run homer off Baltimore’s Tyler Wells to give Yankees a 3-0 lead in the third

  wpa: 0.290

  This one doesn’t seem as dramatic, but it came with two outs (the probability of winning increases) and with two runners on base, which means the Yankees’ chances of winning the game increased significantly. Judge would add a second home run from Wells as the Yankees held on for a 7-6 victory.

  6. September 28: Go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the seventh off Toronto’s Tim Mayza

  wpa: 0.267

  Judge’s record-tying 61st home run of the season made an impact. at 117.4 mph, the line drive was also the judges’ most-hit home run of 2022.

  7. September 13: Game-tying home run in the top of the eighth off Boston’s Garrett Whitlock

  wpa: 0.245

  This was Judge’s second game-tying home run that day, following a 1-1 slider he lifted over the green monster. Considering the importance of the game, in mid-September, with the Tampa Bay Rays on the Yankees, this home run deserves a higher rating. Oh, in the top of the 10th, the Red Sox intentionally walked the judge with a runner on third and two out. It flopped, as Gleyber Torres would later hit a three-run double and the Yankees won 7-6.

  by the way, average wpa for ruth, maris and judge:

  ruth: 0.119

  sea: 0.132

  judge: 0.137

  hits… well, everything

  Thanks to the wonders of modern pitch tracking, we know all about the confrontation between pitcher and batter. and I mean everything. One of the best stat numbers to be found on MLB’s baseball expert site is how each batter fares against different pitches, broken down into overall RBI value.

  the best hitter in baseball in 2022? judge aaron against sliders, with a run value of plus-28.

  second best? aaron judge against four-seam fastballs, with a run value of plus-26.

  To show how judge has dominated the sport, the only other hitter with a career value greater than 20 against a single pitch is yordan alvarez against four seams, at plus-21.

  look at the judges’ numbers compared to the individual throws:

  • 1,254 operations against four seams

  • 1,250 ops against two closers/sinkers

  • 1,191 operations against curves

  • 1,100 operations against sliders

  • .794 operations against changes

    and in limited results, .832 ops against cutters and .476 against splitters (2 of 14). in short: the judge is punishing everything.

    its big improvement in 2022 has been against sliders. from 2017 to 2021, he hit .217/.331/.408 against them, while hitting over .300 against four seams and two seams. last season, he was ranked 90th in career value against sliders at over-3, and as we just saw, he’s no. 1 in 2022.

    All that adds up to 62 home runs…and a slice of baseball history.