New York Yankees star Aaron Judge faced reporters on media day 24 hours before the World Series commences in Los Angeles. All eyes are on the Yankees captain as he duels with Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani who is making his first postseason run.
One of the central storylines of the Fall Classic apart from the Judge-Ohtani comparison is Juan Soto. Judge's outfield partner Soto arrived at the Big Apple ahead of the 2024 season after a deal was reached with the San Diego Padres that saw him and Trent Grisham go to the Bombers in exchange for five players.
A caveat of the deal is that Juan Soto is on a one-year $31 million contract that will expire at season's end. When asked about the contract situation, Judge placed faith on his superstar teammate.
"When the time comes and this is all over, [Juan Soto] make the right decision," Aaron Judge via SNY Yankees.
Soto is coming off one of the best regular seasons of his career. The Dominican star smashed a career-high 41 home runs and 128 runs scored in 2024. He missed just five games and boasted a slash line of .288/.419/.569 with a barrel rate of 19.9%, good for fourth among all MLB batters.
Aaron Judge continues to give acclaim to Shohei Ohtani
Before their clash that can only be compared to a script that's out of a movie, Yankees star Aaron Judge has nothing but praise for Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani.
Judge spoke to the media ahead of their teams' clash in Hollywood on Friday.
"You've got the best player in the game, it's always going to be a fun matchup," Aaron Judge on Shohei Ohtani.
The Yankees captain, one of the best players in baseball in the past half decade, continues to refer to his counterpart as the best player in the game today. The two players led all batter in the 2024 season in home runs, barrel, and wRC+ with Judge sweeping all three categories and Ohtani finishing second.