LAS VEGAS — New York Yankees star Aaron Judge, who led MLB in batting average while hitting 53 home runs, beat the Seattle Mariners’ Cal Raleigh in a close vote to win his third American League MVP Award — all but securing his eventual spot in Cooperstown.
Judge netted 17 first-place votes and 355 points to edge Raleigh, who garnered 13 first-place votes and 335 points, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced Thursday night. The Cleveland Guardians’ José Ramírez (224 points) finished third.
Judge’s across-the-board offensive dominance as right fielder/designated hitter in leading the Yankees to a tie for the AL’s best record won out over whispers of voter fatigue amid a historic season from Raleigh, whose 60 home runs were the most ever by a catcher or a switch hitter, and who helped Seattle to its first AL West crown since 2001.
In the National League, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter and starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani unanimously won his fourth MVP award.
Judge was the unanimous AL MVP in 2024 and also won it in 2022.
He said it was hard for him to “wrap my head around” winning a third MVP and being all but a lock to make the Hall of Fame.
“It’s really just kind of mind-blowing from my side of things,” he said in a conference call with members of the BBWAA.
Every player with three MVP awards is either in the Hall of Fame (Mike Schmidt, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella, Stan Musial, Joe DiMaggio and Jimmie Foxx), isn’t yet eligible but is expected to get in (Mike Trout, Albert Pujols and Ohtani) or was connected to performance-enhancing drugs in their career (Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez).
With his win, Judge became the first back-to-back AL MVP winner since Miguel Cabrera (2012-13).
“It would certainly be one more big point in his favor,” said Jay Jaffe, a FanGraphs senior writer and the creator of JAWS, a statistic used to determine a player’s Hall of Fame worthiness, “not that he hasn’t already done other things that I think are going to get him there as well.”
Judge and Raleigh were the MVP favorites as early as the summer, and it remained a two-man race throughout the second half. Yet, speculation of voter fatigue cropped up as Raleigh’s home run total climbed, and Judge, who spent time on the injured list with a right flexor strain, simply remained steady as a force at the plate.
Judge started at DH in 56 games and played right field in 95 this season, while Raleigh played baseball’s most physically demanding position.
Judge called Raleigh a “special player” and said that when the two spoke at this year’s All-Star Game, Raleigh’s mindset stood out to him.
“One of the things he said to me was, ‘Hey, at some point over this whole weekend, I just want to connect with you about some leadership stuff, how I can be a better leader to help lead my team,’” Judge said. “And for me that really stuck out. Hearing a guy that’s just a couple years in the league, already having the tremendous success he’s having, and his main focus wasn’t, ‘Oh I made it to an All-Star Game or I’m doing this and that or I won a Home Run Derby, how cool is this?’
“He was just focused on, ‘Hey, how can I make my team better?’”
Judge led the majors with a .331 batting average — more than 80 points better than Raleigh’s .247. His MLB-best 1.144 OPS and 215 OPS+ comfortably beat Raleigh’s .948 OPS and 169 OPS+. Judge also led the majors in on-base percentage (.457), slugging percentage (.688), times on base (310), intentional walks (36) and WAR (10.1 via FanGraphs).
In doing so, Judge, too, ascended into historic territory. He became the third player in MLB history to hit at least 50 home runs and win a hitting crown in the same season, joining Mantle (1956) and Foxx (1938). He carried a .402 batting average through May 21. His 53 homers were the most by any player who won a batting title.
The 33-year-old may have pulled ahead of Raleigh in the minds of voters thanks to better offensive performance in July and August, posting a combined 1.002 OPS compared to Raleigh’s .762.
But Raleigh’s season, in many ways, was without precedent. He set the record for home runs as a primary catcher, beating the previous mark of 48 established by the Kansas City Royals’ Salvador Perez in 2021. He became the single-season record holder for home runs by a switch hitter, besting Mantle’s mark of 54 in 1961, and for the Mariners, passing Ken Griffey Jr.’s total of 56 in 1997 and ’98.
Raleigh also led the AL in RBIs with 125, besting Judge’s 114. No catcher has won an MVP since the San Francisco Giants’ Buster Posey in 2012.
“I’m amazed at the ability to maintain two swings,” Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said of Raleigh, “an entire pitching staff, the weight of an entire organization after signing a big deal, and posting every single day with the foul balls, the balls in the dirt, the fatigue, the travel from Seattle.”
Raleigh played 159 games compared to Judge’s 152, and he suited up 121 times as a catcher. Raleigh posted a fielding run value of seven (87th percentile), according to Baseball Savant, compared to Judge’s five (80th percentile).
Judge’s right forearm flexor strain in late July landed him on the IL for 10 days and then limited him to strictly DH duty for 27 consecutive games. When Judge returned to playing right field, he purposely didn’t throw with full strength to protect himself against re-injury.
Still, it was enough for Judge to secure yet another MVP.
“I don’t ever want to become desensitized by the consistency and the enormity of his accomplishments,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said in a statement. “It’s becoming increasingly difficult for me to use words to capture how good he is. He’s just playing at a higher level, and has been for quite some time.”
As for Judge’s future in Cooperstown?
“He’s well on his way,” Jaffe said.
4 Mariners named to All-MLB teams
Major League Baseball announced today the All-MLB First and Second Team from the MLB Awards show in Las Vegas. Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh and outfielder Julio Rodríguez were selected to the First Team, while right-handed pitchers Andrés Muñoz and Bryan Woo were selected to the Second Team.
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