ANAHEIM — Giancarlo Stanton is the only other person in that Yankee clubhouse who knows what it feels like. The slugger hit 59 home runs in the 2017 season, so he knows what Aaron Judge is feeling and facing.
And after watching Judge hit the 50-home run mark for the second time in his career Monday night, Stanton is predicting an “incredible” finish.
“I’m not gonna do that,” Stanton said when asked to predict what Judge can do this season, “but I think he’s gonna do something incredible. He already has and yeah, we got a month to watch.”
Judge barreled up an 81-mile-an-hour curveball to dead center field. The 434-foot home run that came off of Angels’ reliever Ryan Tepera in the eighth inning was not only historic, but has him on track for history.
With 33 games to go, Judge is only 11 home runs away from the American League and Yankee record of 61 set by Roger Maris in 1961. Assuming Judge stays healthy and plays the remainder of the season, he’s on pace to hit 63 home runs.
It is just the 47th 50-home run season in major league history and Judge became just the 10th man in baseball history to hit 50 home runs in two seasons of his career. He hit 52 in his rookie year of 2017. He joins Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa who each did it four times, Alex Rodriguez (three times) and Jimmie Foxx, Ken Griffey Jr., Ralph Kiner, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays who each had two 50-homer seasons.
Judge’s second 50-home run season makes it the 10th time a Yankees player achieved this benchmark. Ruth did it four times, Mantle did it twice, Maris did it when he set the record in 1961 and Alex Rodriguez did it once.
“It’s really, really cool. He’s having an incredible year and it’s been fun to watch,” Stanton said. “And it’s gonna be fun last month to see what he can do.”
Back in 2017, Stanton was breaking records hitting baseballs into the seats in Miami.
Stanton’s 59-home run season was the 44th in major league history. With the Marlins then, Stanton hit his 50th home run on August 27 against the Padres, also with 33 regular season games remaining. Stanton closed out August with 51.
Like Judge is seeing now, it gets harder and harder to get pitches to hit. Stanton said, obviously it depends on the game situations and what teams you are playing.
“As the game develops, you could get two chances like tonight you get four or you get none,” Stanton said. “But he made the best of the maybe three pitches in the zone he got today and that’s what happened.”
Judge’s home run cut the Angels lead to a run, but wasn’t enough to spark a struggling Yankees offense as they lost 4-3. So the mood in the clubhouse wasn’t exactly celebratory. Stanton said it’s hard to understand what it means at the moment.
“I think that’s later. I think you kind of sit back and kind of study your year and understand the things you could have done better, the things you did great and embrace them both and, you know, set your plan for the next year,” Stanton said. “But I think that comes a little later.”
Stanton went on to finish the 2017 season with 59 homers and 132 RBI. He won the National League MVP.
And then he was traded to the Yankees, where he got to see Judge work every day. He’s been impressed by not just the numbers that Judge is putting up, but how he goes about it.
“Just on to the next one,” Stanton said. “He gets out, he strikes out, he hits a home run, he’s got more work to do and he’s never satisfied I’d say.
“He was walked (intentionally) twice tonight,” Stanton said. “He was still pushing everybody around them. So that’s key.”
Judge and Mets’ slugger Pete Alonso are the only hitters to reach the 50-homer mark since Stanton chased history.
