Aaron Judge, the New York Yankees star, has turned the baseball world upside down this season.
After a disastrous start that saw him bat under.200 more than a month into the season, many predicted a dismal season. At the time, this appeared to be true.
Fast forward a few months, and Judge is on track to hit 55 home runs this season. He recently made history by hitting his 300th career home run in only his 955th career game.
Judge, his superstar colleague Juan Soto, the Yankees supporters, and baseball fans in general are all excited to see what comes next for the massive slugger.
Juan Soto believes Aaron Judge could break career home run record
“I’m hoping he breaks the home run record.” Why not? I believe he is the person who can literally shatter the record. He has been showing up all the time. I hope he is healthy enough to do it. “I’m going to enjoy this as much as I can, too,” Soto said, via Chris Kirschner at The Athletic.
When it was mentioned that Judge would need 463 home runs to reach the career milestone, Soto had another response.
“Well, what if he hits 60 home runs every year?”
I mean, if there’s anyone in the game right now that could achieve it, it’s Judge. But consider how impractical that would be.
To shatter the record, Judge will need 463 homers. Assume, as Soto stated, that he hits 60 home runs per season until he reaches his goal. It would take him less than eight seasons of fully healthy baseball to get there. Judge is already 32. That puts him at age 40, when he could theoretically break Bonds’ record.
Bonds is the oldest player to ever hit 60 home runs in a season, doing so at the age of 36. Only three people above the age of 33 have hit 60 home runs in their careers. So, obviously, it is not realistic to expect Judge to smash 60 home runs every season for the next eight years.
But bear with me now. Soto is looking at the wrong Barry Bonds record.
Soto and Judge should be looking for the Captain to shatter Bonds’ single-season home run record of 73 home runs in a year, which he set in 2001.
Obviously, breaking this record is a daunting undertaking, but consider what this year would be like if Judge hadn’t gotten off to such a poor start. Judge was slashing after 129 at-bats this season.200/.336/.392, six home runs.
A challenge like this is difficult, but it is certainly more attainable than the career record. To be honest, with Soto still 25 years old and approaching 200 career home runs, he has a better chance of reaching 700 than Judge.
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