Aaron Judge has been otherworldly for the New York Yankees this season. While most fans likely saw this sort of explosion coming, some experts were not quite ready to name the Captain as baseball’s most prolific star ahead of Opening Day.

Yankees fans have been known to forgive their own players and front office members (Alex Rodriguez, George Steinbrenner), but have not been historically known to simply forget those who might have slighted their favorite players or favorite team.

ESPN listed Judge as the fourth-best player behind Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star Shohei Ohtani in their preseason rankings. Baseball America had him at No. 3. Both had Shohei Ohtani and Bobby Witt Jr. ahead of him, and ESPN tossed Mookie Betts into the mix.

While many would agree with the Ohtani sentiment given that the Japanese slugger can also pitch, it was not fair to Judge to make this distinction after 2024, a year in which Ohtani did not pitch, and where the Bronx mainstay was arguably more dangerous at the plate while also playing the field regularly (with elite defense).

Judge hit more home runs, collected more RBI, and was better in terms of batting average and OPS. He was also walked more than Ohtani, suggesting that pitchers correctly saw the lineup behind Judge as much less opposing than the one behind Ohtani.

While Ohtani became the first MLB player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases, it could be argued that Judge had a more impactful 2024 relative to the team around him. The Dodgers might have still won the National League West without Ohtani, but it is highly unlikely that the Yankees would have won their division without Judge.

Admittedly, the Ohtani v.s. Judge debate is an interesting topic that includes solid arguments on each end. And we can see why Ohtani woould be preferred by some. But Witt and Betts? Give us a break.

Judge has outperformed Witt, Betts, and just about everyone else to start 2025. It could be possible that these publications factored in Judge’s poor 2024 World Series showing as a part of their calculus. Even still, this line of thinking fails to recognize that the regular season and the postseason are much different animals.

Judge has been more potent offensively. Witt and Betts deserve praise for their defensive chops, but neither has the same impact on a nightly basis. When he’s hot, Judge can completely change how a starter chooses to attack New York’s lineup.

There are very few players who could sniff the numbers Judge has put up recently, and it’s particularly concerning that the Worldwide Leader in Sports didn’t see that coming.