Aaron Judge reaches historic HR milestone in record time

Aaron Judge’s immense power has been on full display throughout his MLB career. That continued on Wednesday, as Judge reached a significant career milestone faster than anyone in MLB history.

In the eighth inning of Wednesday’s game between Judge’s New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox, Judge drilled a pitch from Chad Kuhl into the Chicago bullpen for a three-run home run.

It was the 300th home run of Judge’s career.

Nobody in MLB history has ever reached that milestone faster. Bryan Hoch of MLB.com detailed that it was the 955th game of Judge’s MLB career. The previous record holder, Ralph Kiner, reached 300 home runs in 1,087 games. Judge also did it in fewer at-bats than anyone before him.

“The Yankees captain has hit 300 home runs in 3,431 at-bats, which also bests the fastest paces in terms of at-bats in Major League history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau,” Hoch said . “Babe Ruth held the previous mark with 3,831 at-bats, followed by Mark McGwire (3,837) and Kiner (3,883).”

Seeing that Judge reached 300 home runs this quickly, it’s fair to wonder what he might be able to ultimately get to.

Judge has a few things working against him. One is that he didn’t make his MLB debut until he was 24 and didn’t become a full-time player until his Age 25 season. Two is that since becoming a full-time player, injuries have been an issue. Judge played only 112 games in 2018, 102 in 2019 and 106 in 2023. Finally, one of Judge’s prime years was the COVID-shortened 2020 season. He played in only 28 of the 60 games that year, hitting nine home runs.

That said, he’s not that far off of the rate of MLB’s all-time career home run king, Barry Bonds. Bonds hit his 300th home run in April of 1996. He turned 32 that July. Judge is 32 now. And while it’s not likely that Judge — or anyone, for that matter — will be able to match Bonds’ late-career power numbers, it’s also notable that Judge will be able to get at-bats as a DH throughout his career. Aside from road interleague play games, Bonds, who played his entire career in the National League before the universal DH was added, never got that luxury.

Of course, surpassing or even approaching Bonds’ record of 762 homers is a long way out for Judge. But given how prolific his power has been, it will be something to think about as his career continues.

[ MLB.com ]

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