Aaron Judge has 46 career multi-home run games at the MLB level. He’s now gone yard multiple times in another way.
It was announced on Tuesday that Judge is the cover athlete for “MLB The Show 26,” marking the second time in the New York Yankees‘ superstar’s career that he has been on the cover of the game; the first time was in 2018.
Former Minnesota Twins catcher/first baseman and Hall of Famer Joe Mauer is the only other player to grace the cover of “MLB The Show” twice, doing so in 2010 and 2011.
The 33-year-old Judge, a five-time Silver Slugger and seven-time All-Star, totaled 53 home runs, 114 RBIs and an American League-high 124 walks and 9.7 wins above replacement last season, while posting an AL-best — across the board — .331/.457/.688 slash line. In doing so, Judge earned his third career American League MVP, and has now won the award in three of the last four seasons.
Over his nine-plus-year MLB career (2016-25), Judge has led the AL in WAR, runs scored, home runs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS and OPS+ three times apiece, while also leading the AL in walks four times and RBIs and intentional walks twice apiece.
Judge, the 2017 AL Rookie of the Year, hit an AL-record 62 home runs in the 2022 regular season. He has also posted 64 defensive runs saved in right field over his MLB career.
Judge will be the captain for Team USA in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. It’s the first time that Judge will participate in the tournament.
