"That's my season"- Alex Verdugo bursts into laughter reacting to Aaron Judge's record-setting hitting stretch after Yankees' series win
Aaron Judge went long for a fourth successive game to help the New York Yankees clinch the series against the San Diego Padres after a 4-1 win on Saturday. Yankees outfielder Alex Verdugo had a hilarious reaction to Judge's milestone hit after the game.
Judge's two-run homer in the first inning of the second game of the series took the Yankees captain to the joint top of the home run leaderboard this season. His 17th home run of the season helped the Yankees superstar to become the first player since 1901 to register 12+ doubles and 11+ home runs in a 20-game stretch.
When Yankees teammate Alex Verdugo was informed about Judge's feat in a post-game interaction, the outfielder made a hilarious claim, comparing the numbers to his output between the plates.
"That's my season," - Verdugo said before bursting into laughter.
Verdugo, who was traded to the Yankees by rivals the Boston Red Sox in December 2023, stated the admiration opposition players have for Judge. He quirked that young and upcoming players should be inspired by the Yankees captain's game.
"He goes about everything that he does the right way," Verdugo said. "Guys love him, whether you’re on his team, whether you’re on the opposing team, you just love this guy. He’s a superstar that I feel like a lot of kids & a lot of people should try to model their game after."
Aaron Judge's team-leading output garners applause from Yankees teammate
Aaron Judge is now tied with Baltimore Orioles' Gunnar Henderson and Houston Astros' Kyle Tucker for the most home runs this season. The 2022 AL MVP also tops the chart for OPS, with Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani in second place.
Yankees ace Marcus Stroman, who went six scoreless innings on Saturday, contributing to the team's winning streak, lavished huge praise on the captain's output over the last 20 games.
“Watching greatness, you know," Stroman said. "Sometimes you can kind of take it for granted, to be honest. But this is something I’ll be sitting with my grandkids at some point, saying I got the opportunity to play with Aaron Judge and Juan Soto and Gerrit Cole because those are going to be three of the best players, I think, to ever play this game."
While Aaron Judge stole the limelight after his monumental home run, Anthony Volpe extended his hitting streak to 18 games, the longest active streak and the second-longest streak by a Yankees player since Derek Jeter's 19 games in 2012. The 23-year-old shortstop will be eyeing history when the Yankees take on the Padres for the final game of the series on Sunday.