Aaron Judge and his Major League leading 59 home runs has the Yankees outfielder on the precipice of the franchise home run record. But with 127 RBIs and a .316 average, the Triple Crown is also within the 6-foot-7, 282-pound behemoth’s grasp.
The man who stands in his way: Twins infielder Luis Arraez, who leads the American League in hitting with a .317 clip.
Did we mention that Arraez is all of 5-foot-10, 177 pounds? Such is the beauty of baseball.
“You don’t want to get in between Aaron Judge and probably anything in this world,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said, per Twincities.com. “but I do think it’s a pretty wonderful visual when someone pastes it all together on the internet to have Luis Arraez standing in between him and the Triple Crown. That would be a pretty funny image if someone does it the right way.”
Aaron Judge enters Tuesday with 59 home runs this season. Getty ImagesArraez, 25, is in his fourth season in MLB, having made his debut in 2019 and hit .334 in 92 games to finish sixth in the AL’s Rookie of the Year voting. This year, he became an All-Star.
The Venezuelan isn’t Judge’s only competition for the batting title. Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogarts is hitting .316, while White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu is fourth in the race at .309.
“Luis ultimately cares about winning,” Baldelli said. “That’s the most important thing to him more than anything else, but if there is a second thing, I think winning a battle title would be important to him. He takes a lot of pride in what he does and the work that he puts in. My money’s on Luis.”
Luis Arraez leads the American League in hitting at .317, just ahead of Judge. Getty ImagesThe last player to win the Triple Crown was was Miguel Cabrera in 2012 (44 home runs, 139 RBIs, .330 average). Lou Gehrig also did it, in 1934 (49 home runs, 166 RBI, .363 average), and so did Mickey Mantle, in 1956 (52 home runs, 130 RBI, .353).
It’s also possible we could see two Triple Crown winners this year.
Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt is fourth in the National League in homers with 35 (four behind the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber), second in RBIs with 112 (six behind the Mets’ Pete Alonso) and third in hitting at .322 (seven points behind Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman).
The last, and only, time that happened? In 1933 when the A’s Jimmie Foxx and the Phillies’ Chuck Klein both accomplished the rare feat.
Judge resumes his pursuit of history against the Pirates on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.
