We all know he can do it with his bat.
The glove work is pretty nice too.
In the midst of a scorching streak at the plate that has him threatening home run records — again — Aaron Judge made one of the best defensive plays of the season Monday night against the Washington Nationals.
With the Yankees leading, 2-0, in the bottom of the fourth inning, Nationals first baseman Andrés Chaparro hit a deep fly ball off Nestor Cortes that looked bound for the left centerfield stands. Judge had other plans.
The Yankees centerfielder tracked the ball to the warning track and timed his jump perfectly. He snagged the ball at the top of the wall, keeping it in the park. And he wasn’t done.
After he landed, Judge threw a strike to second base, where Gleyber Torres was waiting for the cutoff throw. Nationals outfielder James Wood had taken off from first base anticipating Chapparo’s ball to leave the park or land for a hit. He didn’t get back to first on time.
Torres threw him out at first to complete the inning-ending double play started by Judge’s home-run saving heroics.
A camera angle from behind the wall confirms that the ball was indeed leaving the park if not for Judge’s defensive gem.
The play kept the 2-0 Yankees lead intact as they went on to secure a 5-2 win.
On Sunday, Judge hit his 50th and 51st home runs of the season in a win over the Colorado Rockies. He now has 10 more home runs than the MLB’s No. 2 home-run hitter — Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter and NL MVP favorite Shohei Ohtani. He’s surpassed the 50-home run plateau for the third time in his nine-season MLB career.
With 30 games remaining on the Yankees schedule, Judge is now threatening to break his own AL single-season home run record of 62 set two seasons ago.
That he’s making plays like this in the outfield too just isn’t fair.
