Yankees’ Aaron Judge wins second AL MVP in unanimous vote – Blogging Sole

Yankees’ Aaron Judge wins second AL MVP in unanimous vote – Blogging Sole

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  • Yankees’ Aaron Judge wins second AL MVP in unanimous vote – Blogging Sole

    Alden Gonzalez, ESPN editorNovember 21, 2024, 6:32 p.m. ET

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      ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the LA Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the LA Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.

Aaron judges was unanimously named the American League’s Most Valuable Player on Thursday, capturing all 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Judge’s second MVP — two years after his first, when he beat the current National League MVP favorite Shohei Ohtani in 2022 – follows one of the greatest offensive seasons in baseball history.

Judge led the majors in home runs (58), RBIs (144), OPS (1.159) and FanGraphs wins above replacement (11.2) during a 2024 season that saw the 6-foot-7, 282-pound slugger spending most of his time in center field and leading the New York Yankees to a pennant. Judge’s 223 adjusted OPS was the highest among right-handed hitters since 1900, according to ESPN Research. He became the third player in history with at least 50 home runs and an adjusted OPS of 200 or more, joining Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds.

Bobby Witt Jr.., the young superstar shortstop for the Kansas City Royals, received all 30 votes for second place. Judge’s Yankee counterpart, current free agent Juan Sotofinished third. Judge is the seventh Yankee to win multiple MVPs, joining Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Alex Rodriguez and Roger Maris. Before Judge, Mantle’s 1956 season was the only one in Yankees history to produce a unanimous MVP.

Since his first full season in 2017, when he was named AL Rookie of the Year and finished second in MVP voting, Judge leads the majors in FanGraphs wins above replacement (51.4), runs weighted created plus (176), slugging percentage (.611). ) and home runs (311) despite missing significant time in three of those eight seasons. He broke the AL home run record in 2022, going deep 62 times, but he was better in virtually every other offensive category in 2024, slashing .322/.458/.701 while hitting behind Soto .

Of Judge’s 58 home runs, 23 gave his team the lead. But his season ended in bitter disappointment. The Yankees lost to Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, with Judge going 4 for 18 and making a key error in the deciding Game 5. A rough October aside, Judge’s MVP win seemed obvious for a long time. So obvious, perhaps, that the other two finalists, Witt and Soto, didn’t even appear at the MLB Network awards show.

Yankees legend Derek Jeter was called to announce Judge as the winner.

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