Aaron Judge claims he’s still not ‘locked in’ after Yankees star hits 49th home run, fifth in four days

New York Yankees star Aaron Judge launched his 49th home run of the season as part of a win Friday night against the Colorado Rockies (box score). That home run, a sixth-inning shot that put New York ahead by a 3-0 margin, extended his winning streak to four consecutive games. Including the multi-homer game on Wednesday, he has added five home runs and eight runs batted in to his totals since play began on Tuesday.

The scariest thing about Judge’s recent heaters is that he claims they still haven’t locked down.

“I’m trying to be as prepared as I can be. Once we’re ready, I’ll let you guys know,” Judge told reporters after Friday’s game. “I try to keep it simple. The best thing I can say is I try not to do too much every day. We have a great lineup, we have a great team. If we just go out there and do our job, good things are going to happen.”

Mind you, Judge has batted .433/.558/.955 so far in August, including 10 home runs, 20 runs batted in, and more walks than strikeouts through his first 19 games. One can only imagine what it would feel like to have Judge “locked in” if that weren’t the case.

Overall this season, Judge entered Saturday hitting .333/.464/.728 (228 OPS+), including 49 home runs, 119 runs batted in and six stolen bases. According to Baseball Reference, his contribution is estimated to be 9.1 Wins Above Replacement. Judge is now on track to hit more than 61 home runs this season. His career-high is the 62 he hit in 2022, which stands as an American League and Yankees franchise record.

If Judge crosses the 60-homer threshold again, he will become just the third player in Major League Baseball history to accomplish the feat twice. He is preceded by Mark McGwire (1998, 1999) and Sammy Sosa (1998, 1999, 2001). MLB’s single-season home-run record, of course, belongs to Barry Bonds, who hit 73 in 2001.

Judge and the Yankees will continue their series against the Rockies on Saturday. The Rockies are expected to start right-hander Bradley Blalock, who has yet to allow a home run in 12 1/3 big league innings.