The New York Yankees don’t have much this year, but they do still have Aaron Judge making history.
The slugger mashed a first-pitch leadoff homer in the fifth inning against the Houston Astros on Friday, upping his season total to 30 long balls and his career total to 250. The Yankees, who also got a homer from their youngest player in his MLB debut, won the game 6-2.
Judge reached the 250-homer threshold in his 810th career game, making him the fastest player to reach the mark in MLB (AL/NL) history.
The former record-holder was the Philadelphia Phillies’ Ryan Howard, who got to 250 in 855 games. After Howard, it’s Ralph Kiner (871 games), Harmon Killebrew (905 games) and Albert Pujols (933) to round out the new top 5.
That’s some strong company for Judge, whose career .586 slugging percentage leads all active MLB players. It should be noted the 31-year-old Judge is by no means the youngest player to reach 250 homers as he debuted at the relatively old age of 24. Some fans might also note he has benefited from the hitter-friendly outfield fences of Yankee Stadium.
Judge is hitting .265/.392/.622 through Friday this season with 62 runs and 57 RBI, a strong follow-up to an MVP season that saw him break the American League single-season home run record held by Roger Maris since 1961. He missed nearly two months earlier this season with a broken toe.
