Aaron Judge is on a tear Yankees haven't seen since Babe Ruth's prime

Since he was “unintentionally intentionally” walked four times against the Mets on July 23, Aaron Judge has been walked 20 times in his last 13 games (including six walks that were formally intentional), yet has still managed to slug .884 with six home runs in that span.

Even as teams look to avoid Judge swinging the bat at all costs, he still manages to do damage, batting .442 with 19 hits in this current 13-game span that began with the Mets daring any other Yankee hitter to beat them.

Can you blame the Mets, or any other team, for trying to limit, or flat-out eliminate, swings by the current top AL MVP candidate? With the way Judge has been producing this season, it’s hard to believe such a careful approach wasn’t adopted sooner, like back in June, or back in 2023, or 2022.

As you look back on Judge’s torrid stretch of baseball dating back to the start of his historic 2022 season, it’s hard to find equals, even in the rich history of the Yankees. You’ve heard the accolades on the WFAN airwarves as Judge has continued to roll in 2024, from Sal Licata and Keith McPherson declaring Judge the best player they’ve seen in their lifetime, to Joe Benigno crowning Judge the best player in the game, even ahead of two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani. For this writer, born in 1990, the past three seasons of Judge is a run that has been exceeded in my lifetime by only Barry Bonds in his run of four straight MVPs with the Giants, while he was being intentionally walked at a dizzying rate.

Are there any other comps? Albert Pujols when he was winning consecutive MVPs with the Cardinals? Looking at the numbers, they come up a little short to Judge’s past three seasons. Sammy Sosa’s run of dominance (albeit aided by PEDS like Bonds) that began in 1998, spawning four straight seasons of at least 50 home runs, three of them ending with more than 60? Even those numbers, from an OPS, slugging, OPS+, and batting average perspective, don’t meet Judge’s marks since the start of 2022.

So, I decided to look back on some of the most memorable three-year runs in the deep history of the Yankees to try and find the answer: are we watching the greatest run ever by a Yankee slugger?

The answer might just be ‘yes.’

Let’s start modern and work our way back, beginning with Alex Rodriguez, who won MVP awards in 2005 and 2007, something Judge could very well equal this season if he wins MVP to go along with his 2022 award. From 2005-07, Rodriguez hit .309 with 137 home runs in 474 games, posting an OPS of 1.005 with an OPS+ of 161, or 61 percent higher than league average. Judge, as of Thursday morning, has 140 homers since just 2022 despite logging just 376 games (thanks a lot, Dodger Stadium), and his batting .303 with a 1.100 OPS and an OPS+ of 203, more than double league average. Advantage, Judge.

Let’s take it back another generation to Don Mattingly, widely regarded as the best in baseball during his brief prime in the 1980s. his best stretch of baseball came from 1984-86, winning MVP in 1984 before finishing second to Roger Clemens the following season. In that three-year, span, Mattingly hit a robust .340 with 89 home runs, a .942 OPS, and a 158 OPS+. It shouldn’t be lost that Mattingly put up those numbers while winning Gold Gloves at first base nearly every season, but still, those offensive numbers don’t come close to what Judge is doing right now, and Judge is also playing a more than respectable center field for the Yanks.

Next on the list? How about Mickey Mantle winning consecutive MVPs, including a Triple Crown, after a 1955 season in which he led the league in home runs, triples, OPS, and walks? Here is where the comparisons get a little tighter. From 1955-57, Mantle played in 441 games, hit 123 home runs with a .341 batting average, 1.129 OPS, and a 204 OPS+, nearly identical to what Judge holds since 2022. Mantle’s average is higher, and he has the ever-so-slight OPS edge, while Judge, even in nearly 65 less games, has 17 more home runs. This comparison feels almost even.

Backing up another generation to Joe DiMaggio, starting with an MVP season in 1939 to another MVP campaign in 1941 (again, an honor Judge is currently closing in on). In that three-year span, DiMaggio hit a ridiculous .363 with 91 home runs, a 1.083 OPS, and a 180 OPS+. Judge has the edge in all of those categories but batting average, in an era where batting average has become widely diluted. Moving on to Lou Gehrig, who posted a 1.134 OPS and a 191 OPS+ from 1934-36, and Judge still holds his own, eclipsing Gehrig’s 128 home runs in that span despite the Iron Horse playing in 458 games in that span.

Now we get to the Babe, where Judge seems to meet his statistical match. Ruth’s best three-year stretch was arguably 1920-22, where he hit .359 with a 1.294 OPS and a 228 OPS+ in 404 games, hitting 148 home runs in that span. Ruth only played in 110 games in 1922, which is comparable to Judge’s shortened 2023 season, and even while the rest of the numbers trump Judge, the Yankee captain is more than on pace to best Ruth’s home run total from those three seasons.

Simply put, Judge is on the type of tear Yankee fans haven’t seen since Ruth did it in an era that didn't include deep bullpens and average velocities in the mid 90s, and declarations that he is the best hitter of a generation, and on a run that rivals some of the best hitters of all time, is far from hyperbole.