Will Aaron Judge Win The Triple Crown?
A Blog by Greg
The Triple Crown in Major League Baseball is one of the most impressive feats that a hitter can achieve in the sport. The Triple Crown refers to a batter who leads either the American or National League in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in. The Triple Crown is incredibly rare, only being accomplished by ten individuals in MLB history (since 1920, when RBIs officially became a stat). Before Miguel Cabrera won the Triple Crown in 2012, the most recent winner was Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. That 45-year drought was the longest the MLB had ever gone without someone winning the Triple Crown. Now, a mere 13 years after Miguel Cabrera managed to obtain the honors, an 11th player may be added to the exclusive list of Triple Crown winners.
Aaron Judge currently has 19 home runs, 48 RBIs, and a batting average of .392. His 19 HRs are good for 2nd in the AL, two behind Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, while his 48 RBIs rank him with the 2nd most in the league, 4 behind Rafael Devers. However, the most intriguing aspect of Judge’s 2025 season, and the reason that many believe he could be the 11th Triple Crown Winner in MLB history, is his batting average. Judge’s .392 batting average is far and away the best in the MLB, leading 2nd place, Freddie Freeman, by over 24 points and the 2nd best in the AL, Jacob Wilson, by over 40 points.
While this season seems to be Judge’s best chance at winning the award, it is not the first time he has been a contender for the elusive Triple Crown honors. In his legendary 2022 season, Judge led the MLB with 62 home runs and was tied with Pete Alonso for the most RBIs (131), but led the AL. While he broke Roger Maris’ long-standing AL home run record and took home his first ever AL MVP, he failed to win the Triple Crown as he finished 5th in the MLB batting average (.311) and was 5 points behind the AL leader, Luis Arraez. Two years later, in 2024, Judge again came within striking distance of winning the Triple Crown. He again led the MLB in home runs with 52 but this time was the sole leader in RBIs with 144 en route to his 2nd MVP honors. Unfortunately, he again failed to take home the MLB batting title, finishing with a .322 batting average, only good for 3rd in the American League, as he was 11 points behind the leader, Bobby Witt Jr.
The hype around Judge potentially winning the AL Triple Crown is rapidly growing. FanDuel Sportsbook now offers odds of +220 for Judge to win the Triple Crown, which implies a little over 31% probability of breaking the record. Achieving this feat would be monumental not only to Judge but to the Yankees organization as a whole. Currently, they are tied with the Red Sox and Cardinals for the team with the most Triple Crown winners in MLB history (Mickey Mantle and Lou Gehrig won for the Yankees, Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski won for the Red Sox, and Roger Hornsby and Joe Medwick won for the Cardinals). We might only be â…“ of the way into the 2025 MLB season, but for one will be glued to my TV to see if Aaron Judge will become the 11th player in MLB history and only the 2nd player in the 21st century to win the Triple Crown award and cement himself into the MLB record book once again.
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