Aaron Judge Disrespected? Yankees Analyst Blasts Rankings That Put Ohtani Above Judge
The Los Angeles Dodgers have a generational talent in Shohei Ohtani.
His first season of a 10-year deal with the ball club could not have been better given his National League MVP award, becoming the first player to ever hit 50 or more home runs and steal 50 or more bases in the same season, and of course, leading L.A. to a World Series championship.
It would be unfair to compare any player to Ohtani, but given his history as a pitcher, the divide gets bigger between him and a one-way player.
After displaying pitching and hitting dominance in five seasons of play in Nippon Professional Baseball, Ohtani brought his talents to the Los Angeles Angels in 2018 and picked up right where he left off.
He has a career 3.01 ERA in MLB play since arriving in Anaheim with 608 strikeouts to only 173 walks.
Despite all this talent, a broadcaster on the New York Yankees took issue with MLB Network ranking Ohtani ahead of Yankees slugger Aaron Judge on their top 100 Players Right Now list going into 2025.
Michael Kay started his 10-minute rant with a question that many around the baseball world would feel comfortable answering.
“You tell me, you tell me … how is Ohtani better than Judge?” Kay asked.
He then attempted to use Ohtani’s former excellence on the mound and recovery from a UCL surgery sidelining him from pitching in 2024 to his point.
“He hasn’t pitched in 18 months. How do you know what type of pitcher he’s going to be when he comes back?” Kay asked. “And how do you know when he’s going to come back?
“On what planet can you say that Ohtani is better than Judge? I don’t understand it,” Kay continued. “Are you projecting in 2025 that you think Ohtani is going to go back to being a dominant pitcher?”
To try and understand Kay’s point, Judge has six All-Star appearances to Ohtani’s four, but only two MVP awards to Ohtani’s three. Two of those MVP honors for Ohtani came in the American League, beating out Judge in 2021 and 2023.
Judge’s second AL MVP award in 2024 came when Ohtani was in the National League.
In 2024, Judge had a higher WAR, more home runs, more RBIs, and a better slash line, but Ohtani had him beat in stolen bases, hits, and postseason batting average.
In fact, Ohtani’s .230 average in October compared to Judge’s abysmal .184 mark helped him get one more achievement Judge hasn’t ever earned: A World Series ring.
Judge and Ohtani are two of baseball’s biggest talents, but without a championship or any pitching experience to his name, Ohtani is in a league of his own.
