Judge’s 58 home runs and 144 RBIs also led the majors. He had four more long balls and 14 more runs batted in than Shohei Ohtani who was second in both categories. The captain also led MLB in homers and RBIs in 2022 while slugging an AL-best 52 home runs in 2017.

The Yankees captain crushed his 58th home run of the season on Thursday night, tying a career-high by homering in a fifth straight game. This one was a two-run shot in the seventh inning that put the Yankees up 9-0 against the Orioles on the verge of wrapping up the AL East.

And now, it’s the slow wait for the start of what Aaron Judge over the years has called “the real season.” For the Yankees, that begins Saturday at the Stadium against the winner of this week’s best-of-three wild-card series between the Orioles and Royals in Baltimore.