The Yankees' offense is on a power trip to start the 2025 season thanks in large part to two players: Aaron Judge (of course) and Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Judge is having a run befitting of a two-time MVP and arguably the best hitter in baseball. Through six games, the Yankees Captain is batting .417 with an OPS of 1.648 to go along with five home runs (most in the AL) and 15 RBI. That includes his productive performance in Thursday's win against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
After losing the first two games of the series, the second coming after an overall poor team performance on the offensive side, Judge got the scoring going in the first inning, launching a three-run home run to give the Yankees a lead they would not relinquish. Judge's blast was the first of three hit by the Yankees who scored nine runs total, the most they've scored since their incredible weekend series against the Brewers.
When asked who kickstarted the offense, Chisholm Jr. made it clear who it was.
"Aaron Judge," Chisholm Jr. said with a laugh. "As a team, guys keep getting on for him and he keeps on performing and showing us why he’s the MVP of the league and one of the best players to ever play this game. We’re all just trying to be like him. We all tell him every day that we want to be you when we grow up but at the same time we’re out here playing a team game and we have our big brother leading us and it helps a lot."
One large talking point this offseason was how the Yankees' offense would perform without Juan Soto. The slugger complemented Judge so well, and it helped the Yankees get to their first World Series since 2009.
While manager Aaron Boone puts out different configurations of the lineup, the one constant is Judge. And this season's version of Judge has, at least early on, been more impressive than previous years.
"Last year he hit 58 [home runs] and had a bad first month," Chisholm Jr. said of Judge. "So imagine right now what he’s about to do. I’m just trying to keep up."
Judge won the 2024 AL MVP on the back of batting .322 while smashing 58 home runs and driving in 144 runs. That's after he had an awful March and April when he hit .207 and launched just six home runs heading into May.
But this start could mean bigger things for Judge and the Yankees, and that point isn't lost on Chisholm Jr.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. credited Aaron Judge for kick-starting the offense:
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 4, 2025
"We all just try to be like him. We all tell him every day 'we want to be you when we grow up'. At the same time, we're just out here playing a team game and we've got our big brother leading us" pic.twitter.com/3cN8JFBBRZ
"That’s what I’m saying, I’m just trying to keep up," the young infielder said. "He’s amazing, man, just trying to follow him, pick his brain and watch him and learn from him every day. See him go in there every day even with the poise. Even if he doesn't homer, he went 3-for-4. He’s starting to steal bags now, it’s starting to get ridiculous out of him, man What can you do with someone who is doing it like that?"
Judge did go 3-for-4 with a home run and double while driving in four runs in Thursday's game, and yes he stole a base. But Chisholm Jr. has also been a big part of the early success of ...
