Aaron Judge and Juan Soto continue stellar form, Yankees pair on pace to become historic right-left hitting combo

When it was announced that Juan Soto would be coming to the Yankees last December after a trade with the San Diego Padres, fans in the Bronx could barely conceal their excitement. The prospect of Soto playing alongside 2022 MVP and single-season home run king Aaron Judge was too exciting not to fantasize about.

Nearly six months later, the proof is in the proverbial pudding. With both Judge and Soto putting forth incredible seasons, one MLB analyst decided to do some historic digging to highlight just how exceptional the Yankees outfield tandem really is.

In a recent piece for The Athletic, analyst Ken Rosenthal sought to find a 1-2 pair of left and right-handed hitters. Using OPS+ as the benchmark, Rosenthal tried to find a pair of hitters in the same lineup who ranked one and two in the measure.

At the time of Rosenthal's writing on Thursday, Judge led MLB with an OPS+ of 201, while Soto's 188 OPS+ ranked second in MLB.

"Judge and Soto have been magical so far this year. We can NOT lose the best 1-2 punch in the league" - Jacob PM

While New York Yankees legends Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig ranked first in OPS for several seasons in the 1920s and 1930s, Rosenthal highlighted that both were left-handed, which didn't satisfy his criteria.

Rosenthal went on to highlight some duos who nearly bested Aaron Judge and Juan Soto from recent seasons. Atlanta Braves stars Matt Olson and Ronald Acuna Jr. ranked third and fourth respectively in 2023, while Astros sluggers Yordan Alvarez were second and fourth respectively in 2022.

"Judge is the first player this season to reach 4 fWAR. Juan Soto right behind him with 3.8" - Emily Nyman

Rosenthal, did however, finally find a pair to measure up to Juan Soto and Judge. The 1989 San Francisco Giants had Kevin Mitchell and Will Clark, who led in OPS+, while the 1959 Milwaukee Braves had the right-hitting Hank Aaron backed up by the leftie Eddie Matthews. Still, the feat has never been reached in the American League.

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Aaron Judge and Juan Soto are having fun chasing history

Apart from chasing the OPS+ record, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge could also become the first Yankees tandem to hit 40 home runs each since Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle.

After Judge ripped his league-best 21st home run on Sunday against the Giants, just over an hour from his hometown of Linden, California, the slugger said:

“I’ve got a lot of family in town, a lot of friends in town. We’ve got to do something special for them. I’m just trying to stay locked in and put on a show"

There's still a lot of work to be done, and Yankees fans will be holding their breaths as Soto goes in for forearm imaging on Friday. Regardless, this pair of superstars is getting fans excited like they have not been in quite a long time.