Aaron Judge Is Simply Breaking Baseball

Aaron Judge is on a completely different level from anyone in Major League Baseball right now. In fact, he's on a completely different level than basically anyone who's ever played the sport. Ever.

It's May 1, and Judge is hitting .427. That's not a misprint, he's hitting .427 through 140 plate appearances, roughly 20 percent through the season. That'd be impressive for a contact hitter, someone like Luis Arraez who sacrifices power for fewer strikeouts and more singles.

Except Judge also has a .761 slugging percentage and is tied for the major league lead with 10 home runs. Even that doesn't fully explain just how absurd Judge's first month of the season has been.

NEW YORK - New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) celebrates his solo home run during the sixth inning with teammates against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on April 27, 2025. Photo: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Per Fangraphs, Judge has accumulated 3.2 wins above replacement for the Yankees as of May 1. That's one of the highest figures in an opening month since Fangraphs started tracking statistics. He's not just contributing on offense either.

Judge has also played above-average defense in the outfield too, to go along with 24.5 runs above average on offense. Again, this is in one month.

For some perspective, Judge's 24.5 runs above average would have put him 22nd in Major League Baseball. For the entire 2024 season. He's done it in one month.

His underlying statistics are just as exceptional.

Per Baseball Savant, he's 100th percentile in batting run value. He's 100th percentile in expected weighted on base average. 99th percentile in expected batting average. 100th percentile in expected slugging percentage. 99th in average exit