NEW YORK — Philadelphia’s Trea Turner won his second National League batting title with a record-low .304 average, and the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge earned his first American League championship by leading the major leagues at .331.
San Diego’s Tony Gwynn had the previous low for an NL champion at .313 in 1988. The only lower average by any batting champion was .301 by Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski, who won the AL title in 1968.
Turner, who went 0 for 2 on Sunday in his return from a strained right hamstring, was the NL’s only .300 hitter. The previous low of three was set in 2022 and matched last year. Nico Hoerner of the Chicago Cubs ended the regular season with a .297 average.
“Everyone throws 100 (mph). Everyone has six pitches. Nobody knows where the ball’s going,” Turner said. “Defenses are way better than they’ve ever been.”
Philadelphia had not had a batting champion since Richie Ashburn in 1958. Turner also won a batting title in 2021 when he led the major leagues at .328 for Washington and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Seven qualified big leaguers hit .300 or better, matching last year for the fewest since a record-low six in 1968.
Judge became the third player to hit 50 or more homers and win a batting title, after Jimmie Foxx in 1938 and Mickey Mantle in 1956. He is the fifth player since the expansion era started in 1961 to lead the major leagues in batting average, slugging percentage (.688) and on-base percentage (.457), after George Brett in 1980, Larry Walker in 1999, Barry Bonds in 2002 and Miguel Cabrera in 2013.
At 6-foot-7, Judge is the tallest batting champion. The previous high of 6-foot-5 included Derrek Lee, Joe Mauer, John Olerud, Dave Parker and Frank Thomas.
“I just gave him a ball and said, `You know, Tony Gwynn, Rod Carew, Wade Boggs, you’re in that company now,’” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told Judge.
“Those are legends in the game who will be talked about forever,” Judge said a short while later. “Getting a chance to be with that group is something I don’t take lightly.”
Toronto’s Bo Bichette was a distant second at .311.
Seven players had 30 home run-30 stolen base seasons, three more than the previous high. Arizona’s Corbin Carroll, the New York Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm Jr., the Chicago Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong, the New York Mets’ Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto, Cleveland’s José Ramírez and Seattle’s Julio Rodríguez all achieved the feat.
Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. led in doubles with 47, while the New York Mets’ Pete Alonso and Atlanta’s Matt Olson tied atop the NL with 41.
Arizona’s Corbin Carroll had 17 triples and became the first player to lead the NL in three straight years since Garry Templeton from 1977-79. Boston’s Jarren Duran had 13 and led the AL for the second consecutive season.
José Caballero, acquired by the Yankees from Tampa Bay in July, led the AL in stolen bases for the second straight season with 49. Soto and Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz tied for the NL lead with 38 each. Crow-Armstrong finished the regular season with 35.
There were zero no-hitters for the first time since 2005, and no team won 100 games in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2012-14.
Max Fried of the Yankees led the major leagues with 19 wins and Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta topped the NL with 17.
There were no 20-game winners in consecutive non-shortened seasons for the first time in major league history. The only other non-shortened seasons without a 20-game winner were 1871, 2006, 2009 and 2017.
Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes at 1.97 became the first qualified pitcher with an ERA under 2.00 since Justin Verlander in 2022. The 23-year-old right-hander was the youngest pitcher with a sub-2.00 ERA since 20-year-old Dwight Gooden’s 1.53 in 1985.
Detroit left-hander Tarik Skubal won his second straight AL ERA title at 2.21.
Boston lefty Garrett Crochet led the major leagues with 255 strikeouts, and San Francisco righty Logan Webb topped the NL at 224.
Kansas City’s Carlos Estévez led the major leagues with 42 saves and San Diego’s Robert Suarez had an NL-leading 40.
AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed to this report.