Red Sox manager Alex Cora sang the praises of Aaron Judge after the Yankee slugger blasted two home runs at Fenway Park on Tuesday night, bringing his eye-popping season total to 57.
On Wednesday, a former rival manager also talked up Judge, who has heavy competition for the American League MVP award despite quickly approaching the American League home run record.
Tigers skipper A.J. Hinch, who formerly managed multiple playoff battles against Judge and the Yanks while managing the Astros, acknowledged the formidable competition for Judge to win this year’s MVP award in Shohei Ohtani, but says he ultimately would give the honor to No. 99.
“I will tell you, I’ve talked around our clubhouse and to coaches and just talking shop with our guys, if Ohtani does this every year, he’s the MVP every year from a valuable standpoint,” Hinch said when appearing on the Stoney & Jansen Show in Detroit. “He’s two players in one, and he’s two All-Star caliber players in one, so it’s not a fair fight when it comes to just breaking down the value. It’s Ohtani every time if he’s going to put up these kind of numbers on both sides of the ball.
“From this season, it’s hard to argue [against] Judge, who’s carried a team that’s going to go into the playoffs despite their sort of rollercoaster ride, and what he’s done in the face of all of that – that probably should win out.”
Judge just missed out on the MVP award during his rookie year in 2017, coming in second behind Jose Altuve when Hinch was still with Altuve in Houston. That award has since been mired in controversy given the Houston sign-stealing scandal, but this time, Judge is going up against a two-way star that the league hasn’t seen since Babe Ruth.
Hinch knows that will be an uphill climb for Judge.
“I think you’re going to have to get on one side or the other of the contending portion of the argument,” Hinch said. “Is it a tie breaker? Is it meaningful? I don’t know that Ohtani feels any less pressure when he plays because now there’s an expectation that he’s going to homer every time or he’s going to punch out 10, but I think the contending part of it, for me, it does matter that the playoff atmosphere that you play in for the majority of the season tends to weigh out.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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