While Aaron Judge continues to put up monster numbers for the New York Yankees in the 2025 season, the bullpen has struggled in key moments.
For the slugger, nothing seems out of reach this season. With a 4.5-game lead in the American League East, the Yankees appear poised to cruise through the rest of June and enter the All-Star break on top.
Judge Remains an Outlier in Historic 2025 Season
As each game passes, the Yankees’ standout continues to post elite numbers that could place his season among the best in the modern era.
Usually, a player will bat .400 for the first couple of weeks before regressing to the mean. Yet, Judge shows absolutely no signs of slowing down.
He currently leads all of baseball with a .396 batting average, a .493 on-base percentage, a .771 slugging percentage, and in nine other statistical categories. According to MLB insider Bob Nightengale, Judge made history recently.
Aaron Judge, with 23 homers and a .396 batting average, is the only player in modern-era baseball history to produce this many homers with this high of a batting average in his team’s first 64 games in MLB history.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) June 9, 2025
Nightengale wrote on X, “Aaron Judge, with 23 homers and a .396 batting average, is the only player in modern-era baseball history to produce this many homers with this high of a batting average in his team’s first 64 games in MLB history.”
Modern baseball statistics categorize hitters into two groups: those who hit home runs and those who prefer to hit for a high average. Usually, those two aspects remain mutually exclusive. However, Judge continues to be an anomaly.
Look deeper at Judge’s hit chart, provided by Baseball Savant. At 6-foot-8 and 280 pounds, you would expect Judge to sit on fastballs and try to pull everything, but he consistently uses all fields.
Bullpen Issues Could Ruin Aaron Judge’s Monster Season
Despite Judge’s excellence at the plate, the Yankees have an issue that will consistently keep them from reaching their full potential.
The bullpen issues start with the recently demoted pitcher Ian Hamilton. Despite a phenomenal array of pitches, Hamilton lost the strike zone, walking 14 in 21 innings.
The most glaring issue lies with closer Devin Williams, who was expected to anchor the bullpen but continues to give up hard contact.
Three saves in his last five appearances could be a promising sign for the rest of the season. Still, the question remains: Can the Yankees trust a player who often seems to unravel under pressure?
In 2021, while serving as the Milwaukee Brewers’ closer, Williams missed the entire postseason after injuring his hand, punching a wall following the team’s playoff-clinching win. Then, last season, he allowed four ninth-inning runs while trying to protect a 2-0 lead against the Mets in Game 3 of the Wild Card round, a collapse that ended their season.
The Yankees may need to add more bullpen arms to avoid jeopardizing Judge’s historic season at the plate.