Aaron Judge could be one of the best hitters to ever wear pinstripes

Good morning. In this edition: Aaron Judge takes a run at history, PLAYOFFS?!, and a robot vs. human showdown.

—Peter & Kyle

On the clock: This newsletter takes ~3.73 minutes to read (993 words).

⚾ COURT IS IN SESSION

Aaron Judge could be one of the best hitters to ever wear pinstripes

All rise: Aaron Judge is off to a hot start, and making a case as to why he’s among the best hitters to ever put on a Yankees uniform.

So far this year, in his 10th MLB season, the 6-ft-7 behemoth has a .390 batting average (#1 in the MLB), 7 home runs (T-5th), 25 RBIs (#1), and an OPS of 1.202 (#1).

Last year was similar: The two-time AL MVP and six-time All-Star hit .322 with a league-leading 58 homers, 144 RBIs, and a 1.159 OPS (on-base plus slugging), the highest in a season since Barry Bonds in 2004.

Very good, your honor

In his career in pinstripes, the honorable Judge has comparable numbers to Yankees greats like Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, and Lou Gehrig through their same point with the team.

But forget just the Yankees: there’s a case that Judge could be among the greatest hitters of all time, period, after putting up historic numbers in multiple key offensive categories:

• Lifetime OPS: At 1.015, Judge ranks seventh on the all-time list. The only right-handed hitters ahead of him are Jimmie Foxx (retired 1945) and Hank Greenberg (1948).
• Weighted runs created plus: In this advanced metric widely seen as the most comprehensive measure of a hitters’ performance, Judge’s career numbers rank third all-time, ahead of Lou Gehrig, Barry Bonds, Rogers Hornsby, Ty Cobb, and others.
• At-bats per home run: Judge has hit a home run every 11.3 at-bats, a pace higher than anyone in history except Mark McGwire.

Speaking of pacing: Over Judge's last 162 games—dating back from April 17, 2025—he's hit .343 / .473 / .739 with 63 home runs, 137 runs scored, and 159 RBI. The only other player to reach all of those marks in any 162-game-span in MLB history? The Sultan of Swat The King of Crash The Colossus of Clout The Colossus of Clout Babe Ruth. 

• Judge also hit 321 home runs in his first 1,000 games with the Yankees, the exact same total as Ruth. 

However…When it comes to stacking up numbers over the course of a career, Judge could be at a disadvantage—he started his MLB career at 24 years old, while those like Ruth, Williams, Albert Pujols, Mike Trout, and Miguel Cabrera were MLB regulars by 21.

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📰 Catch Up Quick

Headlines

🏀 NBA playoffs: The Pistons snapped their NBA-record, 15-game postseason losing streak last night, topping the Knicks to tie the series 1-1. | The Clippers beat the Nuggets 105-102 to tie the series at 1-1. | See the full playoff picture here.

🏒 NHL playoffs: The Capitals, Jets, Kings, and Stars (OT) all won last night; see the updated playoff picture here.

⚖️ Shannon Sharpe was accused of rape in a $50M lawsuit filed in Nevada.

🔀 Former Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava is transferring to UCLA. | See the latest transfer portal news here; the spring window ends Saturday.

🏎️ Aston Martin is reportedly set to offer Red Bull’s Max Verstappen a 3-year, $300M deal that would be funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

🙏 All sporting events in Italy were postponed Monday following the death of Pope Francis, including four top-flight Serie A matches.

👪 Shohei Ohtani just accessed dad strength: the reigning NL MVP and his wife, Tanaka, welcomed a new baby girl to the world on Saturday.

⚾ The Reds on Sunday beat the Orioles 24-2 in the biggest blowout of the MLB season. Black-and-orange birds around Baltimore have since been seen hanging their heads in shame.

📸 Snapped

Pics from the Weekend

It was a marathon few days. Sharon Lokedi won a thrilling battle over fellow Kenyan and two-time defending champion Hellen Obiri at yesterday’s Boston Marathon, beating the course record for women by a 2.5-minute margin in the process. The men’s race saw Kenyan John Korir—the reigning Chicago Marathon champion—overcome a fall at the start of the race to earn a 19-second victory in Boston. In other major marathon news: thousands of humanoid robots ran alongside actual humans in a half-marathon in Shanghai, China, on Saturday, in what organizers described as a world first.

Stanford softball broke the NCAA attendance record. On Saturday, the Cardinal drew 13,207 fans to “The Big Swing” game against rival California, beating the previous record all-time attendance record set in last year’s College World Series. The game was held at the football team’s Stanford Stadium, where the softball team is hosting its home games this season while a new $50 million stadium is being constructed.

The PGA and LPGA saw a pair of surprise tournament winners. Justin Thomas sunk a 21-foot birdie putt to win a playoff against Andrew Novak on Sunday and take home the 2025 RBC Heritage title. It marks the first PGA victory in nearly three years for Thomas, who became the first wire-to-wire champion of this season. In the LPGA, former LSU star Ingrid Lindblad won the LA Championship on Sunday in her third-ever start as an LPGA Tour member, narrowly beating out fellow rookie Akie Iwai.

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👀 Must See

Top plays

📐 Steph’s "geometrically impossible" shot wows Kevin Harlan

⚾ Mariners’ switch-pitching prospect showcases his dominance

🥅 Philip Myers shakes and bakes the Red Wings D and finds the net

🏀 James Harden makes defender do the splits, then hits buzzer-beater

🦸 Elly De La Cruz hits Superman impression to make insane catch

+Bonus: Minor league teams pull off the exact same wacky play

🔢 Facts & Figures

By the numbers

Here are five stats from this past week that made our team say “whoa.” Hopefully you will, too.

• 👋 Baylor’s men’s basketball team currently has zero players on the roster; all 14 members of last year’s team (a #9-seed in March Madness) have graduated, transferred, or turned pro.
• 🏈 Each NFL team owned their own first-round pick one week before the draft, marking the first time in the league’s common era (since 1967).
• 🏒 The US and Canadian women’s national hockey teams have played for gold at 23 of 24 world championships—the most recent of which was on Sunday, where Team USA won 4-3 in OT.
• ⚾ Braves SP Spencer Strider became the fastest pitcher to ever reach 500 strikeouts (334 innings) in his first start returning from a year-long injury.
• 🏀 The OKC Thunder’s 131-80 defeat of the Grizzlies in Game 1 marks the fifth-largest margin of victory in NBA postseason history.

🌐 Web Gems

Cool things to click

🎧 Listen: Why MLB's baseball factory in Costa Rica matters more than you think. (Spotify | Apple Podcasts)

📝 Explore: The 2025 NFL draft takes place Thursday night in Green Bay. See the latest news and rumors, as well as a mock draft sourced from 32 different team reporters.

🧠 Go deeper: How Abdul Carter rose to the top of NFL draft boards amid a position change.

🏋️ Get yoked: The BarBend Newsletter offers science-backed fitness tips, workout plans, and expert supplement reviews to help you get stronger than ever. Subscribe now for a free arm training guide.*

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🤔 Trivia

AwardTok

The NBA unveiled the three finalists for each of its seven major individual awards for the 2024-25 regular season Sunday night, with Denver Nuggets C Nikola Jokić and OKC Thunder G Shai Gilgeous-Alexander headlining the MVP conversation.

Can you name the player who has won the most career MVPs in NBA history?

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🤔 Answer

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who won six

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