Yankees’ Aaron Judge named AL Hank Aaron Award winner following INCREDIBLE 2024 season

Aaron Judge was named the AL Hank Aaron Award winner after he hit 58 home runs and had 144 RBI in the regular 2024 season.

Yankees’ Aaron Judge named AL Hank Aaron Award winner following INCREDIBLE 2024 season

Aaron Judge (Image via Imago)

On Thursday night, New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge was declared the winner of the American League Hank Aaron Award. He won this award thanks to his incredible performances during the 2024 season.

Judge had an outstanding 2022 season and was named both the AL Hank Aaron Award winner and the AL MVP that year after hitting 62 home runs. This year, he once again crossed the 50-home run mark after having a down year according to his standards in 2023.

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The Yankees captain batted with an average of .332 this year and led the American League in home runs (58) and RBI (144). Statistically, this season turned out to be his best as he recorded an On-base percentage (OBP) of .458 while having a slugging percentage (SLG) of .701. This took his On-base plus slugging percentage to 1.159.

His performances this season also saw him being named as a Silver Slugger. He was one of three outfielders to win this award alongside his teammate Juan Soto and Anthony Santander of the Baltimore Orioles.

This showing from Judge helped the Yankees claim their first American League pennant since 2009. They would beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-1 to reach their first World Series since that year. However, the Los Angeles Dodgers proved too strong for the Yankees and Judge and they ended up losing in the Fall Classic 4-1.

Aaron Judge in contention for American League MVP award after outstanding 2024 campaign

Despite going through a massive slump in the postseason and suffering a crushing World Series loss, Aaron Judge still had an outstanding 2024 campaign. This has made him one of three finalists for the 2024 American League MVP Award.

Aaron Judge
Aaron Judge (Image via Imago)

As the name suggests, the award is annually given to the league’s best performer. Judge’s performances have earned him the chance to claim a second MVP award in three years.

He though faces some competition for this honor. His teammate Juan Soto has also been nominated for this award and played a similar role as Judge to help the Yankees reach the World Series. Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals is the final nominee this year.

Several fans and experts are expecting Judge to win this award again this year and finish ahead of Soto and Witt Jr. If he and Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, who is expected to win the NL MVP award, are announced as winners, it would make them part of baseball history which has not been seen in nearly 70 years.

As per Sarah Langs of MLB.com, Judge and Ohtani could become just the second pair of players to win this honor while already having won one. The only pair of players to achieve this were Yogi Berra and Ray Campanella in 1955. That win was the third victory for both players.

The winners of these awards will be announced at 6 p.m. Eastern Time on November 21. Before that, the winners of the Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year, and Cy Young Awards winners will be revealed on November 18, 19, and 20 respectively.