Aaron Judge

Aaron James Judge (born April 26, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is a seven-time MLB All-Star and three-time American League (AL) Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) winner. He holds the AL record for most home runs in a season with 62. He stands 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m) tall and weighs 282 pounds (128 kg), making him one of the tallest and largest players in MLB. He is considered by some to be among the best power hitters and right-handed batters of all time.

Judge played college baseball for the Fresno State Bulldogs, and was selected by the Yankees with the 32nd pick in the first round of the 2013 MLB draft. After making his MLB debut in 2016, Judge won AL Rookie of the Year in 2017 by unanimous vote and finished second in AL MVP voting. He hit an AL-leading 52 home runs, temporarily setting a new MLB rookie record, and became the first rookie to win the Home Run Derby. In 2022, Judge won his first MVP after setting the AL single-season home run record, breaking the 61-year-old mark held by Roger Maris.

Following the 2022 season, Judge re-signed with the Yankees on a nine-year, $360-million contract and was named the team's captain. In 2024, he won his second MVP by unanimous vote, leading MLB in home runs and OPS while becoming the fastest MLB player to reach 300 career home runs. That postseason, the Yankees won their first AL pennant in 15 years, but lost in the World Series. He won his third MVP and second consecutive in 2025, and also captured his first batting title. Judge was named captain of Team USA ahead of the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

Early life

Judge was born on April 26, 1992, in Sacramento, California. He was adopted one day later by Patty and Wayne Judge, who both worked as teachers in nearby Linden. He has an older brother, John, who was also adopted. Judge is biracial. Growing up, Judge was a San Francisco Giants fan. He attended Linden High School, where he was a three-sport star. Judge played as a pitcher and first baseman for the baseball team, a wide receiver for the football team, and as a center for the basketball team.

As a sophomore, Judge earned All-Mother Lode League honors in varsity baseball as a first baseman. The following year, he was named the Mother Lode League's Most Outstanding Player in basketball after leading Linden to its first league title since 1986. As a senior, he was selected as Linden High School's Athlete of the Year and received team and Mother Lode League MVP honors in all three sports, while also being named to The Record's All-Area first team for each. Judge set school records for single-season receiving yards (969) and touchdown receptions (17), and led the basketball team in scoring at 18.2 points per game while shooting 56% from the field and averaging 12.8 rebounds and 2.3 blocks, earning Cal-Hi Sports Division IV all-state recognition. In baseball, he captured the Mother Lode League's Triple Crown by hitting .500 with seven home runs and 32 RBIs, and he dominated on the mound as well, going 6–0 with a 0.88 ERA and 65 strikeouts, helping lead Linden to a league championship and a berth in the California Interscholastic Federation Division III playoffs.

Judge graduated from Linden High in 2010. He was the sole inductee into the Linden Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019.

College career

Several colleges recruited Judge to play tight end in football, including Notre Dame, Stanford, and UCLA, but he preferred baseball. The Oakland Athletics selected him in the 31st round of the 2010 MLB draft. Still, he opted to enroll at California State University, Fresno, to play for the Bulldogs baseball team.

In 2011, Fresno State shared the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) regular season title, won the WAC Tournament, and qualified for the NCAA Division I baseball tournament. Judge was named the WAC Freshman of the Year, earned All-WAC First Team and All-Tournament Team honors, and was selected as a Freshman All-American by Louisville Slugger.

In 2012, Fresno State repeated as WAC tournament champions, with Judge earning All-WAC First Team honors for the second consecutive year and another selection to the All-Tournament Team. He finished the season tied for second in the conference with 13 stolen bases and ranked fifth with 47 runs scored. He also won the 2012 College Home Run Derby. That summer, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod Baseball League, where he received the team's Citizenship Award for being a positive team member.

As a junior in 2013, Judge led the Bulldogs in home runs (12), doubles (15), and runs batted in (36), earning All-Mountain West Conference First Team honors. He was named to the all-conference team in all three of his seasons for the Bulldogs—in the WAC in his first two seasons, and the Mountain West as a junior. (The Bulldogs joined the Mountain West in July 2012, before his junior season).

Judge was honored with a jersey retirement celebration at halftime of a Fresno State football game on November 18, 2023. The following day, the Fresno State baseball team formally retired his #29 jersey.

Professional career

Draft and minor leagues

The Yankees drafted Judge in the first round of the 2013 MLB draft with the 32nd overall selection, a pick the team received as compensation after losing Nick Swisher in free agency. Judge signed with the Yankees and received a $1.8 million signing bonus. He tore a quadriceps femoris muscle while participating in a base running drill, which kept him out of the 2013 season.

Judge made his professional debut with the Charleston RiverDogs of the Class A South Atlantic League in 2014. He had a .333 batting average (6th in the league), .428 on-base percentage (OBP; 3rd), .530 slugging percentage (SLG; 6th), a .958 on-base plus slugging (OPS) and hit nine home runs with 45 RBIs in 65 games for Charleston. The Yankees promoted him to the Tampa Yankees of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League in June, where he hit .283 with a .411 OBP (2nd in the league), .442 SLG, eight home runs, and 33 RBIs in 66 games for Tampa. After the season, he played for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League, batting .278 with four home runs in 24 games.

The Yankees invited Judge to spring training as a non-roster player in 2015. He began the season with the Trenton Thunder of the Double-A Eastern League. After posting a .284/.350/.510 slash line with 12 home runs (tied for 9th in the league) in 63 games for Trenton, the Yankees promoted Judge to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the Triple-A International League in June. He was chosen to play in the 2015 All-Star Futures Game. The Yankees did not include Judge in their September call-ups. Judge batted .224/.308/.373 with eight home runs in 61 games for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The Yankees invited Judge to spring training in 2016, and he returned to Triple-A to began the season. Judge was named to the International League All-Star Team in 2016 but did not play in the All-Star Game after he spent a month on the disabled list due to a knee sprain. In 93 games for the RailRiders, Judge batted .270/.366/.489 with 19 home runs (4th in the league), 62 runs (tied for 8th), and 65 RBIs (tied for 7th).

New York Yankees (2016–present)

2016

Judge made his MLB debut on August 13, 2016, starting in right field against the Tampa Bay Rays. In his first MLB at-bat, Judge hit a home run off Matt Andriese; the previous batter, Tyler Austin, also making his MLB debut, had done the same. This marked the first time that two teammates had hit home runs in their first MLB career at-bats in the same game. Judge also hit a home run in his second MLB game, becoming the second Yankees player, after Joe Lefebvre in 1980, to homer in each of his first two MLB games. In his debut season, Judge played in 27 games and batted .179/.263/.345 with 15 hits, four home runs, two doubles and 10 runs batted in and he struck out 42 times in 95 plate appearances. His season ended prematurely when he was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a grade two right oblique strain on September 13, 2016. The Yankees missed the 2016 postseason.

2017: Rookie of the Year

The Yankees named Judge their Opening Day right fielder against the Tampa Bay Rays. He had his first multi-home run game on April 28 against the Baltimore Orioles to help the Yankees win 14–11, coming back from a 9–1 deficit. One of the home runs had a measured exit velocity of 119.4 miles per hour (192.2 km/h), the fastest exit velocity for a home run measured by Statcast since it was adopted in 2015. (This record would later be broken by teammate Giancarlo Stanton on August 9, 2018, when Stanton launched a home run with an exit velocity of 121.7 miles per hour (195.9 km/h).) Judge ended April with 10 home runs, tying the rookie record set by José Abreu and Trevor Story. He was named the American League's (AL) Rookie of the Month for April. In April, he had a .303 batting average, 10 home runs, 20 RBIs, and a .411 OBP in 22 games.