Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Will Aaron Judge Be in the Hall of Fame? Aaron Boone Weighs In

Is that really a question?

Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Any guesses what happened last night in the Yankees game in Pittsburgh? It’s just 7 games into this season, but the most predictable result from a Yankees game is an Aaron Judge home run. And that is exactly what happened last night as Aaron Boone stepped forward from the dugout, looking toward right field at PNC Park. It happened again. For the 6th time in 7 games.

Aaron Judge has played seven games this season.

Aaron Judge has hit SIX home runs this season! pic.twitter.com/Yx9PQzGix4
— MLB (@MLB) April 4, 2025

What happened a while before that? A big, big scare to the whole Yankees universe as Michael Kay put it on the YES Network live broadcast, “Yankees universe was holding its breath.”

Aaron Judge made a leaping catch for the first out of the bottom of the first inning in Friday’s 9-4 win over the Pirates, but as he came down with the grab, he landed awkwardly, tumbling into the out-of-town scoreboard.

Great catch from Cap pic.twitter.com/jlITziWDqn
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 4, 2025

Judge was slow to get up. Cameras showed him grimacing. The scene was reminiscent of that bizarre, awkward toe injury in 2023 that caused him to miss about 55 games.

This time was different. Judge gave the universal “I’m OK” to Boone and the skipper walked back to the Yankees’ dugout and everyone could take a huge sigh of relief.

ALSO READ: Are the Yankees’ Newly Designed Bats the Reason for Their Record-Breaking Home Run Display?

Is Aaron Judge underrated? ESPN had him fourth in their rankings. Isn’t it strange to call Aaron Judge underrated? He certainly proves otherwise time and again. We’re talking about a player with around 53.3 WAR who just narrowly missed another MVP award.

Simple facts: 6 home runs in the first 7 games of the season. 58 homers in 2024, 37 homers in a shortened 2023 where he played just 106 games. 62 in 2022. He’s already a 2-time MVP. Many still argue that he needs a World Series ring, or has yet to prove himself in the postseason, but not Aaron Boone.

It was the 1,000th game of Judge’s career on Friday in Pittsburgh, and his manager has no doubts about what the superstar slugger has in front of him.

To Boone, Judge is a Hall of Famer.

Without question.

“I think he’s one of the greatest players of this generation,” Boone said. “I think it’s a no-brainer.”

Teammate Oswaldo Cabrera, like most of his other teammates, would agree.

13 🤝 99 pic.twitter.com/aK18tKAMEV
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 4, 2025

“He’s the best,” said Cabrera. “There’s no more words than that. He is the G.O.A.T.”

The case for Judge as a Hall of Famer right now is much more than just compelling. Multiple historic seasons, two MVPs, Rookie of the Year, the single-season AL home run record with those 62 in 2022. At his current pace – which is admittedly unsustainable – he’d hit an impossible 139 homers over a full season. His 2024 campaign stands as one of the greatest ever by a right-handed batter.

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The only missing piece is that championship. If Judge can finally get that ring, his Hall of Fame case moves from likely to absolute lock. But even without it, is he underappreciated in today’s game? Does all the Dodgers coverage overshadow what he’s doing? Maybe. But one thing is clear – Judge’s Cooperstown credentials are already impressive enough to warrant serious consideration, even if he hung up his cleats tomorrow.

Aaron Boone

Aaron Judge

Yankees

Mohsin Baldiwala

mlb

Mohsin Baldiwala is a Master’s student in Journalism and freelance content producer who got hooked on baseball through Seinfeld’s hapless George Costanza. The same reason why he’s a Yankees fan. He writes about sports because he believes it can offer a brief escape from the world’s chaos. Even if that means enduring the heartbreak of the 2024 World Series.