All weekend, the baseball world buzzed about torpedo bats. Were they legal? Were they gimmicks? Would they change the game? Why isn't my team using them?
And while the conversation swirled around redesigned barrels, New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge just kept swinging the bat he’s always trusted.
On Monday, Major League Baseball named Judge the American League Player of the Week for the 13th time. That ties him with Alex Rodriguez for the third-most in American League history. He also now shares sixth place on the all-time list, alongside Rodriguez and Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan.
Judge torched the Milwaukee Brewers in the opening series, batting .545 (6-for-11) with four home runs, 11 RBIs, and eight runs scored. He added two doubles and three walks, posting an eye-popping 1.818 slugging percentage and a .643 OBP. His performance Saturday was especially absurd: 4-for-6, three homers, and a career-high eight runs driven in.
The first of those homers helped make history. Judge, Paul Goldschmidt, and Cody Bellinger went back-to-back-to-back to start the game all on first pitches. They are the first since MLB started tracking pitches to start a game with homers on the first three pitches.
Judge followed that blast with a grand slam in the third inning, a two-run shot in the fourth, and capped it with a two-run double in the sixth.
With three career three-homer games, Judge joins a short list of Yankee icons: Lou Gehrig, Alex Rodriguez, and Joe DiMaggio. His 40 multi-homer games rank second among active players, behind only Manny Machado.
The Yankees are 3-0 to start the season and, as of Monday, the last unbeaten team in the American League.
Torpedo bats might be the story, but Judge won the week.
