From Bryan Hoch:
Aaron Judge stood in his familiar stance during the second inning on Wednesday night: feet anchored slightly apart, arms extended, bat held high and waggling ever so slightly as the Yankees’ captain waited for the next pitch.
It was an offering that secured a place in history. Judge connected for his 50th and 51st home runs of the season in the Yankees’ 8-1 victory over the White Sox at Yankee Stadium, becoming the fourth player in Major League history to post four separate seasons of 50 or more home runs.
Yankees postseason tickets are on sale now!
Judge joined Babe Ruth (1920, ’21, ’27, ’28), Mark McGwire (1996-99) and Sammy Sosa (1998-2001) in that exclusive club. He and Ruth are the only Yankees to have consecutive years of 50 or more homers – though Judge said he isn’t ready to savor it.
“I can’t. If you sit back and admire it, you’re going to stop your momentum,” Judge said. “There’s a lot of work that needs to be done. Hopefully I have a long career here and we do some special things. We can talk about it at the end.”
More importantly to Judge and the Yankees, the achievement fueled a timely win that pulled the Bombers (90-68) even with the Blue Jays atop the American League East, after Toronto’s loss to the Red Sox. The Jays hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.
The Yankees have won seven of eight, grabbing a share of first place in the division for the first time since July 3. Toronto, meanwhile, has lost six of its past seven games – one of several wild swings around the Majors in these final days of the regular season.
Fried is so good that I don’t even think he had his best stuff in this game, and he still pitched seven innings and gave up just a single run.
The playoff picture is CRAZY, MAN. The Yankees have more or less clinched the top Wild Card in the American League, but, of course, they want more than that. The problem, of course, is that they still don’t control their own destiny. The Blue Jays hold the tiebreaker over the Yankees, so while the Yankees are technically tied for first place in the American League East (and the best record in the entire American League), they aren’t REALLY, since the Blue Jays hold the tiebreaker. So the Yankees are really a game behind the Blue Jays with four games to play.
The Blue Jays host the Red Sox for one more game, and then the Rays come into Toronto for a final series. The Yankees get one more against the Pale Hose, and then the Orioles come into town for three, and the Orioles have made sure to arrange their rotation so that their two best pitchers, Trevor Rogers and Kyle Bradish, both pitch in the final series. So the Yankees really need the Red Sox to sweep the Blue Jays to give the Yankees a realistic shot at winning the division, as the Yankees sure as fuck are not sweeping the Orioles with Rogers and Bradish both pitching.
Meanwhile, though, due to the Astros choking up the joint, the Red Sox actually clinch a playoff spot of their own with one more win, and they are VERY likely to be the #5 seed in the playoffs. Which would mean that the Yankees would have to fucking play them in the first round. Ugh. At least the Yankees would host the games, but if you’re looking forward to seeing Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello, and Lucas Giolito in the first round, then you are a masochist.
Hilariously, though, if the Yankees somehow DO win the division, they would then face off in the ALDS against…the winner of the Red Sox and the Blue Jays series! So they’re going to fucking have to face the Red Sox no matter what, and that shit ain’t pleasant at all.
The Astros have lost five straight, leading to the Mariners clinching their first division win since 2001 (which is insane when you think about it). The Tigers, meanwhile, have lost eight straight, and are very close to being out of the running for the AL Central, and will likely be the #6 playoff spot. One of those teams will back their way into the playoffs as the #6 seed. CRAZY STUFF.
Speaking of the Mariners, Cal Raleigh now has 60 home runs, with one more game against the Rockies, and then three against the Dodgers, who I don’t believe are even playing for anything any more (I am pretty sure they are about as close to being locked into the #3 seed as possible). So you know that dude is likely hitting at LEAST 62 home runs, and very possibly 63-65 home runs. Just insanity. Oh well, records are meant to be broken, right?
The actual American League MVP, Aaron Judge, had himself quite a night in this one, hitting two home runs of his own, to get to 51 on the season.
Fried gets the featured image, though, as he ends his first season in pinstripes with NINETEEN wins, and a sub-3.00 ERA, and nearly 190 strikeouts (this image is his eighth strikeout). Nicely done. Him as the number TWO starter next season behind Gerrit Cole will be quite the sight to see. If only I had any idea what the Yankees offense will look like next season. As an aside, the Yankees’ offense has now officially contributed more bWAR this season than last, up to 30.9 versus last season’s 30.4. They actually DID manage to replace Juan Soto’s contributions, which is amazing. Their pitching, though, has been worse, 14 to 17, due to the Yankee bullpen being a mess for much of the season. However, you’d like to believe the postseason will see a much shorter bullpen, and hopefully a better bullpen.
If you’re going to believe in this team in the playoffs, I guess you have to believe they CAN beat the Red Sox. But…well…I’ll believe it when I see it. Three straight playoff defeats to the BoSox for the Bronx Bombers.
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Something I’d like to see – yanks finish first and knowing there are days off use fried to pitch the 5-6 innings in Sunday if they have a lead after 4. Then he gets in his throw day and a win for #20.
Judge is going to miss out on the MVP to a much worse hitter.
There has been a BIT of a counter-correction in the last few days, and it’s sadly based on their batting averages of all things, but, yeah, in general, this is almost certainly Raleigh’s to lose now.
Look at the OBP. Raleigh (361) would have to reach base 115 times to match Judge’s (455)
60 HRs is definitely a thing. That’s pretty nuts for a guy who has never had a full season SLG over .500 in the majors or minors. Good for him, but this feels like a career year for Raleigh that won’t be duplicated or come particularly close to again. I guess I’m OK with him earning the MVP as a catcher. Judge has two, should be three, possibly 4 and will undoubtedly be in the HOF.
Judge should also have 52 HRs right now #tamparobbery
Never slugged 500 and now has 60 HRs…ok, what’s he using?
Mariners fans claiming the torpedo bat.
Hoch The AL East champion (NYY or TOR) can clinch a bye in the Wild Card round and home-field advantage in the AL Division Series if:
•Cleveland loses to Detroit (6:40pm ET), OR
•NY Yankees beat Chi. White Sox (7:05pm ET), OR
•Toronto beats Boston (7:07pm ET).
Any of these three outcomes will ensure that the AL East winner finishes ahead of the AL Central winner.
Luis Gil has a 3.29 ERA. But the Yankees know it doesn’t tell the full story. It’s why signs point to him not being the team’s third starter in Oct.
“Is this sustainable? I think it’s probably not. The surface-level ERA is probably a little bit lucky.”
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6659603/2025/09/25/luis-gil-yankees-playoffs/
Gil did the same thing last year though. I think he’s one of those effectively wild guys who just outperforms the metrics because his is so hard to hit. And you ride that train until the wheels fly off in a few year or he learns how to pitch better.
This season has been insane. The yanks lost their best pitcher; have a manager that has actively cost them games with in-game stupidity and pre-game lineup choices (Volpe! Batting order craziness). And despite all that, they’ve got a strong chance at the best record in the AL. Unbelievable.
I would be stunned if they voted for Judge of Raleigh.
Stunned.
They should, does anyone here think they will? Judge could get to 58 home runs and they’d still vote for Raleigh.
For his next trick, I would like Judge to hit a couple or more Kirk Gibson/Jimmy Leyritz home runs. Taking you from losing to winning in your darkest hour, at the last possible moment.
– wRC+: Judge 202, Raleigh 164.
– OPS+: Judge 213, Raleigh 172.
– ABW: Judge 8.6, Raleigh 5.6
– ABR: Judge 88, Raleigh 57.
And yet 60 HRs will win him the MVP. That and the mariners beating Houston for the West title. (Every cloud has a silver lining.)
Raleigh is the new kid on the block, which is a thing. If Judge had never won then the Susan Lucci narrative would be the dominant narrative.
The 34 IBB Judge has set the AL record, one more than Ted Williams in 1957. John Olerud also had 33 IBB n 1993.
Raleigh is also a very good catcher, certainly a better defender at his position than Judge (not that Judge is bad). I want Judge to win, but I don’t think Raleigh winning is a travesty, and it will certainly be less ridiculous than Altuve winning over Judge.
Nice win but I think they lost the division in July.