He’s off to a fantastic start.
Yankees star Aaron Judge, who was the unanimous choice for AL MVP last year when he batted .322/.458/.701 with 58 home runs, is off to an even better start in 2025.
Through Friday, Judge is batting .396/.488/.743 (57-for-144) with 12 home runs in 38 games. He’s leading the AL in homers, runs, hits, RBI, all three slash line categories above, OPS+ (247) and total bases (107).
This week’s SB Nation Reacts survey asked fans how long Judge could maintain a .400 batting average. Here are the results:
Of course, since that survey question was asked, Judge has gone into a mini-slump (2-for-14), and his BA has dropped under .400.
Hitting .400, as you know, is nearly impossible in modern baseball. Tony Gwynn was hitting .394 when the 1994 season was ended by a labor dispute. It’s possible that Gwynn might have hit .400 if the season had been completed. Since then, the only player even within shouting distance of .400 was Larry Walker’s .379 season in 1999.
Can Judge do it? If any current MLB player can, it’s Judge, assuming he stays healthy. In reality, though, the survey is probably correct. He’s already dropped below .400 and while he might keep it up through the end of May, doing it for a full season would be extremely difficult.
The other SB Nation Reacts survey question this week asked who would finish with the worst record in baseball this year. The result was not difficult to predict:
The White Sox, as you know, set a modern record for losses in 2024 with 121. That record might last only one year. With their loss at home to the Padres Friday night, the Rockies dropped to 6-32. That’s a winning percentage of .158. It doesn’t seem likely the Rockies will be that bad all year, but in order to do better than 41-121, the Rockies would have to go 36-88 the rest of the way, which is a winning percentage of .290.
Worse than that, the Rockies already have a run differential of -113, which is nearly three runs per game. Doing that for a full season would make for a run differential of -481, which would annihilate the Modern Era record for such things (-349, 1932 Red Sox).
The Cubs will see the Rockies for a three-game series beginning May 26 at Wrigley Field. The Rockies have 15 games remaining before that series. They’d have to go 4-11 to reach 10 wins by the time that series opens. I don’t think they can do that, as they’re facing the Padres, Rangers, Diamondbacks, Phillies and Yankees in those 15 games.
It could be an historic season in Denver.
SB Nation Reacts is a survey of fans across MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Chicago Cubs fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.