“Am I Tripping?” – ESPN’s Aaron Judge Snub for Bobby Witt Jr. Stuns MLB Veterans

Every year, ESPN’s Top 100 player rankings spark debate, but this time, they might have outdone themselves. A reigning MVP runner-up and generational slugger, the face of one of baseball’s most storied franchises, somehow finds himself ranked outside the top three—behind a rising star still proving his place among the elite. Aaron Judge at No. 4? Really? If that wasn’t enough, Bobby Witt Jr sits at No. 2.

Currently, ESPN has made this a new way of grabbing attention, and it is working. Like every year, ESPN revealed the top 100 players for this year, and it did not sit well with former MLB players. The list starts off with Shohei Ohtani and nobody can argue that after the season he had. It all starts with the 2nd place, where everybody expected Aaron Judge, but they saw Bobby Witt Jr. This is exactly when ex-MLB players said hold on, something is not right.

During an interview, Tommy Pham said, “You’ve got Judge as the fourth-best player? Am I tripping here? Look at Judge’s numbers, Judge can’t be that low. With all due respect, everybody above him on the list is a great player — Mookie [Betts], Bobby, Ohtani is a unicorn. But Judge had a Barry Bonds season last year.” And Pham is right. The numbers Judge put up last season, are exceptional.

In the 2024 season, in 158 games he played in the regular season, he hit 58 home runs with 144 RBIs. He had an average of .322 with an OPS of 1.159, but this did take a dip in the postseason. He managed to hit only 3 homers and had 9 RBIs in the 14 games. His batting average was just .184 but this does not mean he is ranked 4th below Bobby Witt Jr. and Mookie Betts.

Even Andrew McCutchen agreed with the comments of Pham. He said, “I like Bobby Witt [Jr.]’s skill set, and he did some great things last year, but what Judge did for a couple of years running, it’s hard for me to put [Witt] above him.” These numbers by Judge are a dream for many, and he has been doing it for years now. Witt Jr. has exceptional skills and is a very key part of the Kansas City Royals, but he has not done what Judge has done yet.

Even Manny Machado agrees with the Legends as he says that the order should be Ohtani, Judge, Witt Jr., and Betts. Shohei Ohtani being above Aaron Judge makes sense because both had a similar season but Ohtani edged him by winning the World Series. Bobby Witt Jr. neither had the numbers like Judge nor did he make the World Series, so it clearly has not sat well with ex-MLB legends.

If ESPN’s goal was to stir controversy, mission accomplished. Ranking a proven MVP-caliber slugger behind an exciting but still unproven talent screams more headline-chasing than actual analysis. Judge’s resume speaks for itself—Witt Jr.’s time may come, but it isn’t now. Maybe next year, ESPN will just let Twitter decide the rankings and save everyone the trouble.

Aaron Judge stays out of the limelight amid torpedo bat controversies

In an era where every edge is scrutinized and every innovation sparks debate, Aaron Judge remains an outlier—not just in his towering presence but in his refusal to chase trends. While the Yankees are launching baseballs into orbit with their new “torpedo bats,” Judge is doing what he does best—crushing home runs with the same old lumber. Because when you’re Aaron Judge, the bat doesn’t make the hitter—the hitter makes the bat.

After the New York Yankees introduced torpedo bats, the MLB community has gone crazy. On one side is the fans telling that the bats are not illegal while the other side shouts that it is cheating. In the middle of all this, Aaron Judge says that he is not the one to follow the trend, he sets it. During an interview, Judge said, “What I’ve done the past couple of seasons speaks for itself.”

He says that the torpedo bats might be making noise and have been giving the batter an advantage, but he has done the same thing with the normal bats. Aaron Judge hit 58 home runs in the 2024 season and topped the HR table. He also says that if any batter is using this bat, it is not cheating as the bats are not illegal.

If torpedo bats are baseball’s latest “game-changer,” Aaron Judge clearly didn’t get the memo—and he doesn’t need one. While others debate legality and fairness, Judge just keeps doing what he always does: dominating. Maybe the real controversy isn’t the bat itself, but the fact that no amount of innovation can replicate raw talent.