No First Time for Juan Soto? Aaron Judge’s Historic Run Pushes the Yankees Captain Ahead of Soto in MVP Race

Things were quite different at the beginning of May. Aaron Judge was going through a huge slump and Juan Soto was as consistent as one can be. Though the New York Yankees were at the top then too, most odds favored Soto to get his first-ever MVP nod. But then something happened by mid-May. The dragon woke up – which in this case means Aaron Judge finally locked in. And suddenly, Juan Soto’s path became tough.

Day after day, Soto remained consistent but Judge kept on creating new levels. Though fans already knew the high potential of All Rise, it seemed like even the most ardent fan had yet to learn just how high All Rise could fly. The Yankees captain flipped the script from averaging just below .200 to climbing over .300. And now, that impact has gone so high – he has become a landslide favorite to win the AL MVP award.

According to the New York Post, Aaron Judge is not only odds on favorite to win but he’s doing so in a dominating fashion. With odds of -130 to his name, Judge is laps ahead of his competition. As for Soto, he has dropped from pole position to 4th with +520 odds. How did the Dominican star fall so much? Well, it actually has nothing to do with his performance.

The Childish Bambino is slashing .381/.588/.762 in June (before Thursday’s game). However, with Judge catching fire, Soto is getting completely outshined. Moreover, the pair of shortstops – Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. (+350) and Baltimore Orioles’ Gunnar Henderson (+425) too have climbed ahead of them. 

And as for Aaron Judge? Well, the New York Yankees captain had a historic May. But scarily enough, his June is turning out to be even better.

Aaron Judge continues his historic run in June 

All Rise went ballistic in May after a quiet April. The Bronx Bombers superstar won the AL Player of the Month award. With a slash of .371/.488/.928 with 14 homers and 27 RBIs, the superstar was in a league of his own. The most important part was his 1.397 OPS (the best in the league in over five seasons). 

But then June arrived, and Judge decided to kick it up a notch. Before Thursday’s game, Judge boasted a 1.657 OPS and had hit 5 home runs in the month. The baseball world hasn’t witnessed numbers like these since the peak of Barry Bonds. This surge is dampening Juan Soto’s chances of winning his first MVP award. With Aaron Judge seemingly on track for his second AL MVP award, one can only speculate how many more historical feats he will accomplish before the season concludes.