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.
"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 the Yankees offense.
Coming over in a trade with the Marlins at last year's deadline, Chisholm Jr. has gotten off to a fast start, hitting .292 with four home runs -- tied for second on the team with Anthony Volpe -- and driving in eight runs. Last season, Chisholm Jr. hit .256 with 24 homers, but 11 of those came as a member of the Yankees.
These early 2025 numbers affirmed Boone's decision to hit the left-handed Chisholm Jr. behind Judge. The Yankees skipper half-joked after the game that whenever Judge only gets a single or double he sometimes feels Judge should have done more in that at-bat. It's something he's come to expect from Judge.
When Boone's comment was brought to Judge's attention, the captain smirked and said he liked it when his manager continued to push him but gave credit to his teammate hitting behind him for taking the pressure off of him early in the season.
"I gotta go out there and do my job, especially with how Jazz has been swinging the bat behind me," Judge said. "I’ll take my singles, take my doubles if he’s going to go out there and hit homers like he’s doing right now. It doesn’t have to always be a homer with a guy like that behind me."
"I’m ok compared to him," Chisholm Jr. said when his own early-season success was brought up. "I’m trying to get to his level right now. I told him I’m not going to fall too far behind him. I gotta keep up with him."
That mentality is something Judge says has permeated throughout the clubhouse this season. Each player is trying to push each other to be better and so far, it's working.
"I told [Jazz] I was going to catch him in stolen bases this year," Judge said. "We’re both trying to beat each other. It’s going to be a good year. We’re going to go out there and continue to push each other. Everybody in this whole clubhouse strives to be great, especially after last season when we weren’t able to finish the job. Guys are motivated to go out there and do something special."
The Yankees have started strong out of the gate with a 4-2 record heading into their first road series, starting Friday in Pittsburgh. But they know if they hope to make it back to the World Series, and "finish the job" they'll need to keep it up.
Oh, and the race for stolen base supremacy between Judge and Chisholm Jr. is tied at 1-1 after six games.
