Aaron Boone uses Juan Soto & Shohei Ohtani example to highlight Aaron Judge's dominance

New York Yankees Slugger Aaron Judge is coming off a remarkable 2024 season. He played in 158 games, hitting .322/.458/.701 with 58 home runs and 144 runs batted in.

It was good enough to receive his fourth Silver Slugger Award. He was also named the American League MVP for the second time in his career for his impressive offensive statistics.

While there are players like Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani, Judge shined brighter than them at the plate. Manager Aaron Boone met with the crew at MLB Network to talk about just how dominant his slugger is.

"I just think about what he did last year. Like, Juan Soto was unbelievable for us. I know what Shohei did over in the National League.. Judgey's got him by over a 100 OPS. It's hard to wrap your brain around just how dominant a player he is" said Boone.

Judge led all batters with his eye-popping 1.159 OPS. That is 100 points higher than Shohei Ohtani's 1.036 OPS, which Boone has a hard time wrapping his head around.

Judge now comes into the new season looking to continue to carry that momentum. He will have to be at his best if the Yankees want to find themselves in another deep postseason run.

Aaron Judge comes into he new season with added pressure

New York Yankees - Aaron Judge (Photo via IMAGN)

The 2025 season will be big for Aaron Judge and the Yankees. They will look to continue without Juan Soto in their lineup after he signed his monster deal with the New York Mets.

Now, much of the pressure to carry the offensive load will be back on him. He must stay healthy this season and be in the lineup nearly every single game.

However, losing Soto is not the only new thing Judge has dealt with over the last few months. He and his wife, Samantha, just introduced their first child to the world this past winter.

Judge is now a dad, and there is added pressure when it comes to having a child. Being a new father is also a lot more difficult when you have the schedule a professional baseball player has.

Now, there is the age-old idea that men become stronger after having their first child. It will be interesting to see if this translates to Judge and the home runs he hits this year.