Yankees' Aaron Judge Earns This Impressive Honor For 2nd Time in Career

New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge took home this impressive honor for the second time in his career.

Oct 24, 2024; Los Angeles, CA, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) speaks to media during workout day at Dodgers Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images / Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

The accolades continue to roll in for New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge after a historic 2024 campaign. 

On Saturday, Judge was named the MLB Player of the Year as voted on by his peers. Judge beat out fellow finalists Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals and World Series rival Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The awards are voted on by a secret ballot of MLB players and was first handed out in 1998. Winners of the awards receive a sum of prize money that is donated to a charity of their choice.

Judge was also voted the AL Outstanding Player of the Year, beating out Witt and Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez. It is the second time that Judge has won both awards in the same season, having done so in 2022 as well.

The Yankees’ captain had a truly historic season at the plate, slashing .322/.458/.701 with a 1.159 OPS and 58 home runs. By Offensive WAR, Baseball Reference ranks the season as the sixth best offensive year by any batter in MLB history with a score of 11.7. It was the best offensive performance ever by a batter not named Babe Ruth or Barry Bonds.

Ohtani took home the NL Outstanding Player of the Year Award to nobody’s surprise. He and Judge are the clear favorites to take home their respective MVP awards as well. It is the third time that Ohtani has won the Outstanding Player of the Year Award after winning it in 2021 and 2023 with the Los Angeles Angels in the American League. 

Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers was voted as the AL Outstanding Pitcher and Boston’s Tyler O’Neil won the AL Comeback Player of the Year Award. In the National League, Atlanta’s Chris Sale took home both the National League’s Outstanding Pitcher and Comeback Player of the Year awards. Baltimore’s Colton Cowser and San Diego’s Jackson Merrill were voted as the Outstanding Rookies for their respective leagues. 

Milwaukee’s Rhys Hoskins won both the Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award and the Philantrophist of the Year Award. Hoskins has raised more than $1 million for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. 

In 2022, when Judge won both awards, he would go on to win the AL MVP trophy as well. MLB will announce the BBWAA MVP award winners for each league on November 21st, 2024.