Yankees' Aaron Judge, Angels' Mike Trout Up for Debate
Jul 17, 2018; Washington, DC, USA; American League outfielder Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees (99) and American League outfielder Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels (27) run to the dug out after the first inning in the 2018 MLB All Star Game at Nationals Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Few sluggers can compare to Aaron Judge . As far as New York Yankees lore goes, the last player who put up the type of production he has was the incomparable Mickey Mantle.
Outside of the Yankees, the two names that come to mind are Barry Bonds, who may or may not have had some synthetic aid, and Mike Trout.
Judge vs. Trout Debate
In late September, MLB Network analysts debated Trout and Judge . According to Steve Phillips, the former general manager for the New York Mets, he swung in Judge's direction, taking the captain over the future Hall of Famer, Trout.
"I would go with Aaron Judge," Phillips said on MLB Network. "I think he is gonna make a case to be the best right-handed hitter ever, in the history of baseball. He's that good an offensive player, and he's a solid defender in the outfield, and he can run better than you'd think for a guy that size, and I also think doing it in New York. I think to be able to deal with the production and expectation and to produce on a regular basis, I get it."
Another case that Phillips made for Judge was his ability to handle the demands of being a superstar in New York, something few athletes have done as well as he has.
"Judge has taken a New York team, put them on his shoulders, and taken them to the postseason, he has not been great in the postseason, but he's gotten there. I think that when I look at the entire picture and look at pure hitting, I think Judge is the better overall player."
Trout has a few more years on Judge, but their career numbers are close. Trout has a total slash line of .294/.406/.570 with a 166 wRC+. Judge has hit .294/.413/.615 with a 178 wRC+.
Trout has the edge as far as Fangraphs WAR goes, but that is by virtue of his being in the league longer. Trout has an 87.2 career WAR, and Judge has 61.6.
In Judge's career, he has had three different 200 wRC+ seasons, which is something Trout has never achieved. Judge had a 206 wRC+ in 2022, 220 in 2024, and 204 this season.
The last player to have a 200 wRC+ season over a full year was Bonds. That was in 2004, when he had a 233 wRC+. In Bonds' career, he accomplished this four times. Bonds is a controversial figure for those PED allegations against him, and the one thing Judge can say is that his ability to post a 200 wRC+ is as natural as natural gets.
Wild Hang On to Take Down Kings in Shootout 4-3
The Minnesota Wild and Los Angeles Kings faced off for the first time of the season on Monday evening, Oct. 13, in St. Paul, Minnesota, at Grand Casino Arena. It was the first of three meetings, with the next two coming up in January in Los Angeles. The Wild made some lineup changes after their loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, Oct. 11. They took Hunter Haight out of the lineup and brought Danila Yurov in for his NHL debut. The Kings were also coming off a Saturday loss; they fell to the Winnipeg Jets, 3-2, on the road.
Jesper Wallstedt made his season debut in net for the Wild, while a former Wild goaltender, Darcy Kuemper, was in net for the Kings. The Wild remained without Mats Zuccarello and Nico Sturm while Corey Perry and Kyle Burroughs were out for the Kings. The game started in favor of the Wild as they got an early lead, and the Kings tried to fight back and tied it. They went to overtime and a shootout to get a winner, which was the Wild 4-3. This gave the Wild a record of 2-1-0 and the Kings a 1-2-1.
Game Recap
Both teams had a bit more jump in their step now that they had a few games under their belts. The Wild scored first on a power play goal from their captain, Jared Spurgeon, that gave his team the 1-0 lead. He was assisted by Marcus Johansson and Marco Rossi. That was just the beginning of the scoring for the Wild, as they added two more on the power play before the period ended.
The first was scored by Kirill Kaprizov, and he was assisted by Zeev Buium and Vladimir Tarasenko, which made it 2-0. The second goal was scored 20 seconds later by Matt Boldy, and he was assisted by Tarasenko and Joel Eriksson Ek to make it 3-0. Those were the only goals of the period, and the Wild took the lead into the second.
The second period saw a few chances for both sides, but the goaltenders stood tall and no goals made it through. The Wild took the 3-0 lead into the final period. The Kings got on the scoreboard in the early minutes of the third off a goal by Kevin Fiala. He was assisted by Joel Armia and Brandt Clarke to make it 3-1.
The Kings scored on the power play a short time later on a goal by Quinton Byfield. He was assisted by Adrian Kempe and Anže Kopitar to make it 3-2. Kempe scored late in the period on a 6-on-5 to tie the game 3-3. He was assisted by Byfield and Drew Doughty. That would be the final goal of the period, and they went to overtime. That wasn’t enough, so a shootout was required to determine the winner, which was the Wild 4-3. Rossi was the lone goal scorer in the shootout for both teams.
The Wild won’t have much time to take in this…as they’ll head right on the road to face the Dallas Stars in the second half of this back-to-back on Tuesday, Oct. 14. The Kings, on the other hand will have a few days before their next game which will be at home on Thursday, Oct. 16, against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
