Yankees captain Aaron Judge hasn’t wasted any time reminding opposing clubs that pitching to him is a bad idea.
The reigning American League MVP stepped into the box for the first time on Thursday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks with Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger on first and second. It didn’t matter where they were standing on the basepaths, though; when Judge is at the plate, everyone is in scoring position.
The 6-foot-7 slugger connected on a 1-1 four-seamer from righty Merrill Kelly, driving a 394-foot bomb into the Yankee bullpen to give New York an early 3-0 lead. It was only fitting that in his 999th career game, he would record the 500th extra-base hit of his career, a no-doubt home run—his fifth of the season.
“I catch myself having these ridiculous conversations with him sometimes because he’s set the bar so darn high,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
But Judge wasn’t done yet. The captain continued attacking pitchers and finished the game going 3-for-4 with a homer, double, single, and four RBI, all of which helped the Yankees secure a 9-7 win over the Diamondbacks and avoid the series sweep on their home field.
“We never exhale,” Judge said after the game. “We’ve seen it too many times in this game. It’s been our thing since the beginning of this year – don’t let off the gas. Keep scoring. Keep scoring until you get the final out.”
The nightmarish fifth inning in Game 5 of the World Series has haunted the squad since last October. As described by Boone and Judge, the club entered spring training with an added “hunger” to attack teams out the gate, extra motivated to pummel the opposition and claw their way back to the Fall Classic.
For Judge, a hot start was paramount; he couldn’t afford another sluggish start like he had last year. Over the first 33 games of the 2024 season, Judge hit just .197 with a .725 OPS, and it took him 28 games to tally five homers.
And through six games in 2025, Judge is doing his part and then some. He has already clobbered five home runs while hitting .417 with a 1.648 OPS. Judge is just the second player in MLB history to record 5+ homers and 15+ RBIs through the first six games of a season. He joins Babe Ruth, who accomplished the feat in 1932 (h/t OptaSTATS).
“I wanted to try to have a better March and April than I did last season,” Judge said after the team’s 12-3 win over the Brewers on March 30. He went on to say that while his offseason training has helped, the biggest factor in his initial success has been his teammates, who have entered the season with the same energy.
“I did some stuff throughout spring training, but I think the biggest thing is just this offense,” he added. “Every time I walk up there, there’s guys on base, there’s traffic. The at-bats in front of me, even if they’re outs, they’re seven, eight, nine pitches, battling. It makes my job a little easier.”
The Yankee offense has been firing on all cylinders ever since catcher Austin Wells beamed a home run in the club’s first at-bat of the season. The squad has bashed an MLB-record 22 home runs through their first six games, shattering the previous mark of 17. New York is hitting .278 as a unit and leading the majors with a collective 1.006 OPS.
The Yankees understand that their offense starts with Judge. And with the captain setting the tone, the rest of the team is following his lead.
“We all just try to be like him,” Jazz Chisholm Jr., who clubbed his fourth homer of the season on Thursday night, said. “We all tell him every day ‘We want to be you when we grow up’. At the same time, we’re just out here playing a team game and we’ve got our big brother leading us.”
