The New York Yankees kick off their 2025 MLB regular season against the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday. While they are dealing with serious injury trouble, the AL East club is still entering this campaign with incredibly high expectations after falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series last year.
Aaron Judge will be looking to build his remarkable 2024 season for the Yankees. In 158 games with the Yankees last year, the 6-foot-7 outfielder posted 58 home runs, 144 RBIs, and a .322 batting average. This was good enough for him to win his second AL MVP, his second Hank Aaron Award, and his fourth Silver Slugger Award. In addition, he was named to his sixth All-Star, third All-MLB First Team, and led the AL in home runs and RBIs.
After a spectacular 2024 season, Judge had a quiet Spring Training. He noticeably struggled at the plate during it, as he had one home run, five RBIs, and a very low .121 batting average. Although he had a tough spring, No. 99 also quietly hit a goal he had set.
Back in early March, Judge told MLB.com's Bryan Hoch that his goal was to have 40 to 50 plate appearances by the end of Spring Training. The veteran slugger did just that, finishing the spring with 41 of them.
Judge noted that he wanted to have that many plate appearances during Spring Training because he felt that it "might help" the Yankees have a better start in April. In 27 games last April, Judge had six home runs, 17 RBIs, 22 hits, and a .220 batting average in 27 games.
It will be intriguing to see what kind of start the Yankees and Judge have in the 2025 season from here.
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