New York Yankees star Aaron Judge went 2 for 4 and delivered his 17th home run of the season on Friday night in a loss against the Colorado Rockies (box score). Judge raised his majors-leading batting average to .398 in the process, but he fell short of becoming the first player since 2008 to hit .400 or better over the course of his team’s first 50 games.
Had Judge finished the night at .400 or better, he would’ve displaced longtime Atlanta Braves star Chipper Jones as the most recent player to do it. Here’s a look at how Jones, and the three others to pull it off since 1997, fared on the year:
| AVG thru 50 G | Full season AVG | |
|---|---|---|
|
Chipper Jones, 2008 Atlanta Braves |
.417 |
.364 |
|
Todd Helton, 2000 Colorado Rockies |
.421 |
.372 |
|
Larry Walker, 1997 Colorado Rockies |
.409 |
.366 |
|
Tony Gwynn, 1997 San Diego Padres |
.404 |
.372 |
Observant readers will note that all four of those players are in the Hall of Fame. They all went on to win the Batting Title in their respective years, too. While Judge didn’t join that select group, he entered Saturday with a 37-point lead over second place Freddie Freeman. Judge is also tied for the MLB lead in home runs and is two runs batted in behind Boston Red Sox DH Rafael Devers, positioning him for a run at the Triple Crown.
MLB has had just one Triple Crown winner in the last 50 years: Miguel Cabrera, who won the 2012 American League Most Valuable Player Award on the strength of that achievement.
Comparatively, a Triple Crown seems more obtainable for Judge than a .400 average. No MLB player has hit .400 since Ted Williams in 1941, and few have even threatened it in a genuine manner. George Brett held a .400 average through 134 games in 1980, making him the most serious contender since Williams. In recent years, Luis Arraez had a .400 average through 78 games in 2023.
It’s to be seen if Judge can match even Arraez, but he does have a real chance to end Saturday on the rare side of .400.
This news was originally published on this post .
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