Aaron Judge repeating MVP heroics this season? Nestor Cortes Jr. opens on Yankees captain's stellar form - "This is the 2022 season again" (Exclusive)
Nestor Cortes has known Aaron Judge longer than most current members of the New York Yankees. As someone who has seen the 6-foot-7 outfielder's rise to prominence unfold before his eyes, Cortes has a unique perspective on how skilled the team's captain really is.
In a recent interview with Sportskeeda's Dan Connolly, Cortes opened up about the privilege of watching Judge up close. According to the Cuban-born starter, Judge is on the precipice of achieving what he did in 2022 when he set a single-season home run record with 62 bombs. Cortes told Connolly about Judge:
"This is the 2022 season again. Every at-bat, it’s like, ‘OK, he’s gonna hit a homer. Oh, he missed that. He just missed that. OK, he’s gonna homer next time.’ I mean, it’s impressive to have a hitter over 1.000 OPS in the middle of your lineup, let alone have two over 1.000."
In his comments, Nestor Cortes also referred to Juan Soto, whose 1.034 OPS this season is second only to Judge's MLB-best 1.107 figure. The dynamic pair has also accounted for over 40% of the Yankees' total home runs this season.
With 35 home runs and 89 RBIs, Aaron Judge leads baseball on both counts. Seeing as though his figures were very similar at this point during his historic 2022 season, Cortes may indeed have a reason when he compares Judge's current season back to his MVP-winning campaign in 2022.
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Cortes got his first real glimpse at life as an MLB pitcher during the 2019 season with the Yankees, going 5-1 in 33 appearances. After a 2019 trade, Cortes pitched for the Seattle Mariners for the 2020 season before returning to the Bronx in 2021.
Nestor Cortes has seen the evolution of Aaron Judge
Ironically, Judge's first season with Cortes in 2019 saw the New York Yankees outfielder record the worst full season of his career. However, it did not take long for Judge to rejoin the elite club of hitters. As Cortes told Dan Connolly:
"I remember when I was here in 2019 and he was good, but he wasn’t performing then the way he is performing now. In 2021, when I came back, he was still performing but again not to this caliber.
"In 2022, when he hit 62 [homers], I was like, ‘Holy cow. This is a totally different person.’ He always had that leadership and killer instinct. But I don't know if it all came together until 2022."
Although Judge continues to put up unbelievable results, the Yankees know that they are only as good as their results as a team. While fans are undoubtedly expecting a season similar to 2022 from Aaron Judge, they are surely hoping for a better postseason outcome than two years ago.