Judge's Triple Crown watch is just as impressive as the HR overall watch

Aaron Judge is once again on one of his home run binges after going 16 games without a home run in his career – a “drought” that garnered widespread attention.

After his two-run pitch in the seventh inning on Thursday night against the Orioles, the outfielder has hit a home run in five straight games and seven of his last 12 games, giving him an MLB-leading 58.

There's a good chance the Yankees' captain will reach the 60-homer plateau twice in three seasons again.

But just as impressive, and in some ways even more impressive, is the fact that Judge is also a candidate to win the American League Triple Crown for the second time in three seasons.

In addition to leading the league in home runs and RBIs (144), Judge also posted a .325 batting average, which was the second-highest batting average in the AL, with Toronto's Vlad Guerrero Jr. (.325) trailing only Bobby Witt Jr Kansas City (.332). .

When Judge won his first MVP in 2022, in addition to an AL-record 62 home runs and an MLB-leading 131 RBIs, Judge hit a .311 batting average, ranking second in batting average behind the Twins' Luis Arraez (.316).

“I mean, he's Aaron Judge,” Aaron Boone said before Thursday's game, in which Judge is one of the rare hitters capable of hitting for power and for average. “We see a historically great player. He is very proud of it. Obviously his power speaks for itself. But he takes great pride in being a versatile batsman. And I think like many great players, no matter the sport, he is determined and obsessed with getting a little better at baseball year after year.”

Batting average has slowly faded into the background in this sport over the past two decades as virtually all teams are run to some degree by baseball people who are skilled at analytics.

When discussing batting average with this audience, it is not uncommon to hear words like “meaningless” and “irrelevant,” among others.

In recent years there has been some recalibration in this regard among some teams – the Royals would be an example – where batting average is no longer as emphasized as it used to be, but is not outwardly dismissed as at least somewhat relevant in evaluation of a batsman.

But regardless of who runs the teams, players are a demographic for whom batting average still matters.

And Judge, who throughout his career has described himself as “old school” when it comes to the game, is at the top of the list of players who care.

A lot.

“For me, the hitter rating has always been average,” Judge said near the end of his 2022 MVP season. “I may be a little old-fashioned, but can you hit or can you hit? It’s always been my goal to get to this point and accomplish that.”

While in college at Fresno State, Judge often watched clips of at-bats of all-fielder Miguel Cabrera, the last MLB Triple Crown winner (2012 with the Tigers).

Growing up near the Bay Area, Judge loved the Giants and their best player, Barry Bonds, another hitter who could hit for average. He also kept an eye on Albert Pujols, another hitter who fits that category.

“Those guys were bullshit,” Judge said.

It's been a steady climb to .325 for the 32-year-old. After all, Judge had a miserable first month, hitting .197 after the May 2 game.

But he soon took off and his batting average hasn't dipped below .300 since hitting .299 on June 16.

“It’s the hard way. He doesn't get an infield single, but all of his doubles. . . “He doesn't have the speed to hit the wall for a double, they're just all real slugs,” Anthony Rizzo, one of Judge's closest friends on the team, said earlier this season, marveling at Judge's ability to both hit the ball at 450 to bat -plus foot, but also have a batting average over .300. “Guys with speed have slightly different ways (to achieve a high average), sneaking in infield hits and so on. It's just a real slug, one hit at a time. It’s the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen in my career.”

Count Boone in that group, too.

“I don’t want to exaggerate and say he’s reached a new level since he hit 62 home runs and won the MVP. I don’t know if it’s another level,” Boone said. “But is he increasingly a better batsman today than he was back then? I think the answer is “yes.”