"Shohei Ohtani wows a lot of people" - When Aaron Judge couldn't find words to describe the Japanese phenom

When Shohei Ohtani came over to the MLB, he impressed plenty, including New York Yankees star Aaron Judge. Nobody in this generation has seen somebody excel both at the plate and on the mound as the two-way phenom has.

Only Babe Ruth has had similar success as a two-way, but that was not only a small part of his career. Ruth only had one true two-way season which came in 1919.

Ahead of the 2021 All-Star Game, Judge met for an interview with Fanatics View where he was asked his impressions of Ohtani. Judge nearly could not put into words how much Ohtani had impressed him.

"He's a once in a lifetime talent. To be able to do what he does on the mound, throwing in the upper 90s, great feel for all his pitches, can pitch deep into games and to come up and hit three homers in a game is.. I've never seen anything like it," said Aaron Judge.

Aaron Judge could not get over just how elite Ohtani is on the mound and how that did not deter his presence at the plate. He was able to juggle both well, which historically, has been nearly impossible.

"It's just impressive. It's tough for me to sit here and try to talk about what he does because I can't do it. I can't step in his shoes and do it. He wows a lot of people, that's for sure," said Judge.

Aaron Judge was skeptical about how Shohei Ohtani would perform during the 2021 All-Star Game

MLB Home Run Derby - Shohei Ohtani (Photo via IMAGN)

Shohei Ohtani had a ton on his plate during the 2021 All-Star weekend. He participated in the Home Run Derby and was penciled in to bat leadoff and start on the mound during the All-Star Game.

Aaron Judge knew just how exhausting the derby could get. He was not too sure how well Ohtani would hold up when all the activities came to a close.

"When I did the derby is '17, I couldn't even lift my arms the next day. Now I was dead tired. I was kind of walking through BP the next day leading up to the game. It's exhausting, especially going all the way to the finals, with the amount of swings it takes, especially with the clock they got where it's a running clock of two minutes" said Judge.

Unfortunately, Shohei Ohtani would lose in the first round to Juan Soto. Ohtani would then go on to start the game on the mound where he threw a perfect inning but went hitless at the plate.