“You're trying to diminish what Miguel Cabrera did” - A. J. Pierzynski defends former Tigers star against Aaron Judge in debate with J.J. Cooper

Baseball America's J.J. Cooper recently posted a comprehensive comparison of two of the best hitters in recent memory, Miguel Cabrera and Aaron Judge. The two could be viewed as the two best sluggers of their respective eras.

In nearly all categories, Judge has been better in his four-year stretch from 2021-2024 than Cabrera in 2009-2012. This goes to show just how impressive the Yankees captain has been over the last few seasons.

However, former big league slugger A.J. Pierzynski came to Cabrera's aid. He debated with Cooper in a recent airing of the Foul Territory podcast.

"Listen, I played against Miguel Cabrera, okay? I've watched Aaron Judge and I played against Miguel Cabrera a lot, okay? I was in the AL Central for that whole run he had, okay? I feel like you're trying to diminish what [he] did," said Pierzynski.

Playing in the AL Central with the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox for much of his career, Pierzynski has played against Miggy a lot. He felt Cabrera was a lot better than Cooper gave him credit for.

"What [he] did was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen, because we threw lefties at him, we threw righties at him, we threw sliders at him, we threw four-seamers at him, we threw sinkers at him, we threw change-ups, we threw splits, and he could hit it all," said Pierzynski.

Cabrera was a tough out, and he was a hard slugger to pitch around. There was not a pitch he could not get his barrel on and send out with some force.

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Cooper was not trying to downplay Miguel Cabrera's significance when comparing him to Aaron Judge

New York Yankees - Aaron Judge (Photo via IMAGN)

J.J. Cooper was not trying to downplay just how good of a hitter Miguel Cabrera was when he compared him to Aaron Judge. However, with what Judge has done, it is hard to compare him to anybody.

"The last line in my story says, the last paragraph, 'None of this is meant to denigrate what Cabrera did," said Cooper.

The message of his story was just to show fans the remarkable run Judge is currently on. Just this season alone, he has slugged an MLB-leading 51 home runs, while some players are lucky to see 51 throughout their careers.

It will be interesting to see just how many home runs he can finish the season with.