Aaron Judge, Juan Soto combine to break 13-year Yankees jinx with 100+ RBI seasons

When Juan Soto was traded to the Yankees last December, fans knew that in tandem with Aaron Judge, their club would feature two of baseball's premier sluggers. However, few could have foretold just how dominant the pair would be.

On Wednesday night, Soto's career-high 39th home run of the year knocked in his 99th and 100th run of the season. As such, the 25-year-old joined Judge as the only member of the Yankees to hit the 100 RBI milestone this season. As it happens, the two also became the first Yankees teammates to hit 100 RBIs in well over a decade.

"Aaron Judge and Juan Soto are the first @Yankees teammates to have 100+ RBI seasons since 2011." - MLB

The last time two or more members of the New York Yankees logged 100 RBIs in a season was in 2011. That year, Curtis Granderson, Robinson Cano and Mark Teixera all surpassed 100, with 119, 118 and 111 runs, respectively.

Soto's 39th home run in the Yankees' walk-off win over the Kansas City Royals also represented the most of his six-year career. Judge and Soto now occupy the first and fourth spot respectively on the MLB home run leaderboard in 2024.

"Juan Soto could barely walk after fouling one off his foot and he still crushed his 39th HR of the season." - Prospect Dugout

Although he still leads MLB in home runs, Judge's last big fly came against the Colorado Rockies on Aug. 25. Now on a 14-game home run drought, this has been the big man's longest stretch without a bomb since he made his MLB debut in 2016.

Keeping Aaron Judge and Juan Soto together remains an offseason priority for the Yankees

The success of the Yankees this season has been driven largely by Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, who together account for about 51% of the team's home runs this season. However, with Soto's one year deal expiring, the club will need to put up some serious cash. As Judge advised Soto:

“I just kind of talked to him early on and said, ‘Hey, just do your thing, there’s going to be a lot of noise, but you play your game, you do what you can. All that stuff’s going to work out in the end.'”

While it may not yet be known what the future holds for this tandem, they will, in all likelihood, keep striking fear into the hearts of opposing pitchers for the rest of 2024.