New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge won American League MVP for the second time in three years on Thursday, putting a bow on a season in which he led the Bronx Bombers back to the World Series.
While Judge’s campaign ended with a loss to Ohtani’s Dodgers in the Fall Classic, his regular season left little room for criticism and he won the MVP title unanimously.
Judge led the major leagues with 58 homers, 144 RBIs and 133 walks while hitting .322. He finished the season four dingers shy of his own AL record set two years ago.
The 32-year-old and 2022 MVP helped lift the Yankees to the AL East title in the regular season and the AL pennant in the post-season.
Judge beat out Yankees teammate Juan Soto and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., for the award. Soto batted .288 with 41 homers and 109 RBIs, while Witt Jr., topped the big leagues with a .332 average, hitting 32 homers with 109 RBIs.
The MVP news caps a week of MLB award announcements that saw Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes and the Yankees’ Luis Gil win Rookie of the Year while Cleveland’s Stephen Vogt and Milwaukee’s Pat Murphy took Manager of the Year. Atlanta’s Chris Sale and Detroit’s Tarik Skubal were named the Cy Young award recipients.
–with files from The Associated Press