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By: Caitlin King
Aaron Judge has a resume for the books, but the most impressive part is the subsection for his home run accolades. In 2017, Judge was the first rookie to win the home run derby outright. In 2022, he broke the Yankee single-season record previously held by Babe Ruth with 59 home runs. Later that same season, he broke the American League single season home run record with a total of 62 dingers. In 2024, he became the fastest player in the MLB to surpass the 300 home run mark... in only 854 games!
While his achievements are impressive, it raises a question: How is he so dominant when it comes to hitting homers? It may look to be sporadic excellence to the naked eye, but let's look a little closer.
This article breaks down Aaron Judge's career home run data as of April 4, 2025 to uncover trends in his hitting patterns per inning, home versus away splits, and in relation to base-runners. The data was collected from baseball-reference.com.
WHEN
Aaron Judge hits more home runs in the first and third innings than any other inning. This could be due to having fresh legs to start the game so he can step through his swing better, or possibly facing relief pitchers in the dreaded bullpen game. However, one thing is true. Aaron Judge is a tone setter. What better way to shake a pitcher's confidence than facing Judge as the leadoff hitter and he launches one to left field. He doesn't need to rely on pitchers getting tired in the later innings to launch bombs. He hits hard early and establishes control over the game.
Now that we have established that Judge asserts his dominance early on, let's look at why the "hitter-friendly stadium" allegations are only a fraction of the story when it comes to his home run success.
WHERE
With 168 home runs occuring in Yankee Stadium and 153 hit on the road, Judge's record shows a pretty even split. In the MLB, 81 games are played at home and 81 away for every team. If Yankee Stadium were the reason for him hitting so many home runs, it would make sense that his homers at home would be a clear majority. While Yankee Stadium may offer some advantages with low outfield walls, Judge's power is proven home and away. With nearly half of his homers coming on the road, his slugging ability is not confined to within New York.
Having established his success has no boundaries, it is interesting to note how helpful his home runs really are. A first inning, leadoff home run is different from a ninth inning, based loaded, walkoff bomb.
Using the controls below, filter through his home runs by inning, location, or runners on base. If you hover over one of the dots on the visualization it gives the information for all the filter categories. For context, - means no runner, and a 1, 2, or 3 indicates a runner on that base. For instance, 1-3 means runners on first and third with no one on second.
Set the "Group by" to Runners on Base, and "Shade by" to Home/Away. Notice the large majority of dots that appear for no runners on base. Judge hits the majority of his dingers when no one is on base. This can be attributed to having lower RBI (Runs Batted In) chances early on in the game when batting first or second. Though he still produces homers with runners on base, his game is definitely the single-run shots.
Aaron Judge's home run data reveals a consistent, tone-setter that dominates the game. Regardless of stadium, Judge will launch a bomb or two, and you're lucky if it's just a single-shot, considering he could be hitting a grand slam. Warning to pitchers everywhere: Judge will swing in his first at-bat. Of his 321 home runs, 241 have come from different pitchers, proving that no one is safe.
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