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Will Aaron Judge ever hit 73 home runs in a season? Not to mention the many former MLB players in Mexico

smsmalex4 weeks ago

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Hello! After hitting two home runs yesterday, Aaron Judge is on pace to break his own American League record…and the race for American League MVP is probably not a race. Also: The White Sox are the second-fastest team to lose 100 games, and we have a deep dive into the Mexican Baseball League as well as a wholesome story on Salvador Perez. Rustin Doddsubstitute Levi Weaverhere with Ken Rosenthal — welcome to The Windup!

Judge Watch: How many home runs can he hit?

Yankees’ Aaron Judge hit his 50th home run in the first inning yesterday against Colorado’s Austin Gomber. And six innings later, he hit his 51st.

The second home run came in a barrage of back-to-back hits from Juan Soto, Judge and Giancarlo Stanton that capped a 10-3 victory. But back to the conversation at hand: Judge has 51 home runs. It’s August 26th.He’s on pace to finish with 63, which would be one more than he did in 2022, when he set the American League record with 62.

From The AthleticBrendan Kuty:

In 2022, Judge hit his 51st home run on Aug. 30. This year, he did it on Aug. 25, and the Yankees still had 31 games to play after Sunday.

Judge became the fifth player in MLB history to hit at least 50 home runs in three separate seasons, joining Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Alex Rodriguez. He is also in contention to become the third hitter to record multiple seasons with at least 60 home runs.joining Sosa and McGwire. He would be the only player in this category not to have been linked to doping products.

Judge, who turns 33 next April, has been so dominant that it’s easy to wonder if his power is limited to that extent. Could he one day approach Barry Bonds’ record of 73 home runs?

“Seven-three is a huge number,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters. “I don’t know. But hey, records are meant to be broken.”

And then there was Stanton, who offered this response to Kuty: “Yeah.”

Considering that Judge seems to hit home runs almost every day, it’s dizzying to imagine the pace he’d have to maintain to ever threaten Bonds’ total. But for those of us who are old enough: We saw Bonds do it in 2001, and it was impressive.

Ken’s Notebook: Don’t overlook Witt in AL MVP race

Talk to a Yankees fan and they’ll tell you Aaron Judge is the only choice for American League MVP. Talk to a Royals fan and they might say, “Wait, what about our shortstop, Bobby Witt Jr.?”

Although this may be difficult for many to understand in our polarized society, where people shout at their opponents and fail to grasp nuance, there is no wrong answer.

Do I think Judge is currently the overwhelming favorite for this award? Sure. The Yankees center fielder leads the major leagues not only in home runs, but also in RBIs (122), on-base percentage (.465), slugging (.736), OPS (1.201) and whatever other type of WAR you fancy.

This race for AL MVP is reminiscent of 2022, when Shohei Ohtani hit 34 homers and posted an .875 OPS as a hitter and a 2.33 ERA in 166 innings as a pitcher — and received just two first-place votes. Judge won the other 28 after setting the AL record with 62 homers and leading the majors in on-base percentage (.425), slugging (.686) and OPS (1.111). And yes, he improves on those numbers in 2024.

The narrative and the numbers are in Judge’s favor, as he is now on pace for 63 home runs. Even if he doesn’t break his own record, his absolute dominance after a mediocre April should earn him the award. Which is fine. No argument! But we can acknowledge the judge’s magnificence while also acknowledging that Witt is having a fantastic, even historic, season., Also.

Witt leads the major leagues in batting average (.347) and hits (180) and is four homers and four stolen bases away from a 30-30 campaign. He’s one of the best defenders in the game, while Judge is considered one of the worst center fielders. Oh, and he’s also leading the Royals to their first playoff appearance since 2015 despite lacking a sidekick of Juan Soto’s caliber. The Royals are three games behind the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central and, along with the Minnesota Twins, hold a 4 1/2-game lead over the Boston Red Sox in the race for the final two wild cards.

Yankees fans might say, “Yeah, but Witt plays in the American League Central.” Royals fans might say, “Yeah, but Judge hits in Yankee Stadium.” Both arguments are flawed. The Central is home to the pathetic Chicago White Sox, but could also produce three postseason teams and a Detroit Tigers club that finishes above .500. Judge, meanwhile, has hit nearly as many home runs away from home (25) as he has at home (26).

To anyone who praises one over the other, I say, “Shut up!” Both players are excellent. It shouldn’t be too hard to agree on that.

History: White Sox Record 100 Losses – Before September

On Sunday, Andrew Benintendi compared talking about the White Sox’s losses to “beating a dead horse.” True, he’s right. So, let’s do this quickly:

The White Sox fell to 31-100 yesterday, making them the second-fastest team in the modern era to reach 100 losses, behind only the 1916 Philadelphia A’s.

From The AthleticJon Greenberg:

Only three other teams had ever lost 100 games before September: the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, the 1962 Mets and the 2003 Tigers. The Sox are chasing the Tigers (119 losses) and Mets (120) for the title of the worst team in modern baseball history, and they’re coming out swinging.

About the 1962 Mets: The White Sox must finish at least 12-19 in their last 31 games to avoid tying the Mets for the most losses (120) in the modern era.

Investigations: What’s happening in Mexico?

Have you noticed the dozens of former major league players—some random, some not—who played in the Mexican Baseball League this year?

The number is a record, and it’s actually an interesting story.

Earlier this summer, I spent a weekend in Mexico City, where former MLB star Robinson Canó was leading the Diablos Rojos del México to the best record in league history. But Canó is far from alone.

The list includes Jonathan Villar, Daniel Palka, Didi Gregorius, Alex Claudio, Jonathan Schoop, Matt Adams, Julio Teheran, Danny Salazar, Aristides Aquino, Luke Voit, Mallex Smith and many more!

The fundamental reasons:

This year, the Mexican League increased the number of foreign players allowed on a roster from seven to 20.which coincided with a new cap on minor league rosters.
With hundreds of older players out of work, the Mexican League has become an increasingly attractive option.

To learn more, here’s a story — with The AthleticSam Blum — about a changing league and the players on the fringes just trying to keep their careers alive.

Handshakes and high fives

Beer and tacos: In today’s A1 article, Dan Hayes explains how the Twins used what they call the “Beer and Tacos Methodology” to build this year’s fun and entertaining team.

Salvy becomes Willie Mays: One of the most wholesome baseball stories of the year continued into the weekend: On Thursday, Royals catcher Salvador Perez pulled a Willie Mays on a day off, stopping at a kids’ baseball game in the Kansas City area — then returning to work Friday and hitting his 22nd home run of the season in a win over the Phillies.

Story Details: Cameron Lard is a 9-year-old boy who organizes a neighborhood game every day in his backyard. Perez was visiting a friend in the neighborhood on his day off. On his way home in the evening, he saw a group of kids playing baseball and stopped.

A minute later, Cameron ran inside to alert his parents: Uh, Mom, Salvador Perez is in the garden.

I spoke with Cameron’s mother, Lesley Lard, on Friday morning, and by later that afternoon the story had gone viral. You can read the full story here.

But there was a quick update: The next day, Perez sent a friend home to Lard with a signed bat and made a virtual delivery via video call.

Did you know? Babe Ruth’s jersey believed to have been worn in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series sold for $24.12 million over the weekend, breaking the record for the most expensive sports memorabilia in history.

If you recall, there was some debate over the photo matching methods used to attribute it to Game 3. But in the end, someone paid a lot of money for the right to own an old Babe Ruth jersey.

Most clicked in yesterday’s newsletter:Jayson Stark’s “Weird & Wild” historical watch that features some important milestones to watch out for until the end.