Aaron Judge no longer leads the American League list of most home runs this season. The new leader is a familiar name, another former MVP and quite likely the only other early contender for the title this season, Shohei Ohtani.
The Halos star struck two home runs in the game against the Texas Rangers to take his tally to 20.
Aaron Judge has 19 home runs to his name till this point. Injuries have plagued his playing time so far this season. In comparison to Shohei Ohtani, the Yankees roster leader has played 17 fewer games and appeared for 83 fewer at-bats.
But whenever we compare both living legends, we always need to factor in Ohtani's place in the Los Angeles Angels rotation.
In the game against the Rangers, the Angels DH hit his 19th home run in the top of the seventh for a towering 459 feet dinger to the center. Ohtani's 20th home run of the season came in the 12th innings as a tie-breaking two-run clutch home run. He went past Judge and is just two dingers behind the NL's leader Pete Alonso.
Fans on Twitter tried to troll Aaron Judge as Ohtani overtook him at the top:
Aaron Judge's injury-plagued season might hand Shohei Ohtani the MVP title
Aaron Judge, currently on the Injury List, has been sidelined since last weekend's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Yankees captain sprained his toe as he hit the Dodger Stadium fence after catching a flyball toward right field in arguably one of the best defensive plays for New York in the outfield this season.
This is his second stint on the 10-day IL after suffering a strained right hip sustained in a game against Minnesota last month. In comparison, Shohei Ohtani became the first man to record 20 home runs and 100 strikeouts in three consecutive seasons.
The race for the AL MVP is indeed on, and for Judge to have a shot, he has to return to the New York Yankees lineup soon.