Stephen A. Smith might have missed a few key details while sharing his thoughts on Wednesday morning’s First Take episode on ESPN. Conversing with host Chris Russo, Smith was seen comparing Shohei Ohtani with Aaron Judge. While this analysis between two players is not new in baseball and is subjective, some reasons that Smith gave for Judge’s dominance this year were questionable. And it looks like he might have overlooked important information!

This isn’t the first time Stephen A. Smith has been in the news for his opinions. Recently, Smith was under fire when he called Mike Trout injury-prone and also said that he wonders just how a player in such a physically undemanding sport as baseball gets injured. Well, fast forward to August, he made another bold claim that Judge is having a great season all because of  Juan Soto’s position in the line. But it seems he missed what the Yankees lineup actually looks like.

Is Stephen A. Smith’s argument inaccurate?

Almost every baseball fan out there knows that the New York Yankees captain plays at the third in the lineup, and he has done this in all the 131 games he’s played this season. But the famous ESPN Broadcaster knew it differently and claimed that Arron Judge’s massive 2024 season was partially possible because Soto batted behind Judge, which is incredibly wrong. After all, Soto plays at 2, and he is playing there in all (129) games he’s played so far.

While Smith didn’t deny the massive hit season the 6.7ft is living, his argument was all based on this inaccuracy. “But you do got Juan Soto batting behind you. They can’t get around you… they got to pitch to the brother, because you got Soto waiting in the wings. All of that facilitates Aaron Judge being who he is,” Smith said, while his co-host Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo stayed silent. The long-time Sports broadcaster didn’t correct A. Smith on his clear error.

But the Yankees fans came together to do so. Ever since Smith made this comment the clip started circulating and went viral in no time, with fans showering the comments like: “He shouldn’t be talking about baseball. Not sure he even watches the sport”. The ESPN broadcaster must be having a Deja Vu, as he did go through a similar wave when he misspoke about Mike Trout.

Setting aside this factual mishap from that chat, Smith was also seen comparing two of the hottest baseball talents right now, Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. And guess who he was leaning towards? Shohei Ohtani!

Why does Stephen prefer Ohtani over Judge?

The 56-year-old had a unique approach to the comparison as well. According to him, ” Things have been pretty peaceful for Aaron Judge’s career. Ohtani has to deal with a lot more in the face of adversity.” Undoubtedly, Ohtani has gone through a very tough time, with the recent struggle involving his translator, who was accused of stealing, and the subsequent legal fiasco. But we cannot say that Aaron Judge had it easy; he had his fair share of injuries.

Smith also noted that despite these adversities, the 32-year-old “has performed on a league level.” Ohtani is all set to make his own 50-50 club, already matching the MLB highest home run and stolen bases. Mad Dog was seen defending the Yankees beast, saying he is the 1 of 5 players with three 50-HR seasons! Well, choosing between the two talents is very difficult, considering both of them are at their career high, and their teams are in great lead, too.

The Dodgers are topping the charts with 79-54 in the NL West. Meanwhile, in the AL East, the Yankees are topping the charts with 78-56. It will be interesting to see a playful exchange between the two if they qualify for the Fall Classic. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments.