New York Yankees star Aaron Judge has responded to talk of Major League Baseball rival Pete Alonso beating his home run record.
Judge holds the record for the most home runs in a single season in the American League. The 31-year-old smashed 62 homers last year to break the AL record previously set by Roger Maris in 1961.
The Yankees right-fielder’s record has him fourth overall on the list of most home runs across the entire MLB. Barry Bonds holds the record in the National League with 73 homers in 2001, while Mark McGwire hit 70 and 65 homers in 1998 and 1999, respectively.
Less than a year on from Judge breaking the AL record, there is talk that it could be done again, this time by New York Mets star Alonso. The Mets first baseman already has 20 home runs in 54 games so far this season.
Should the Mets go all the way and play the maximum number of games possible, then he could break the record if he carries on with his current form. This is a fact that has gotten plenty of people in baseball excited, including himself and his teammates.
But Judge has also remarked on Alonso’s form this season. The Yankees star says that Alonso continuing with his home-run hitting will only be good for the game of baseball.
“To see what he’s doing now is exciting,’’ said Judge. “It’s good for the game. Him doing his thing with the Mets and hopefully getting there makes baseball better.”
When asked what advice he’d have for Alonso, Judge said: “Keep your blinders on. “Don’t look around. He should stay locked in and as focused as he is.”
“I know he’s a guy that prepares the right way before a game and before the season,’’ Judge added. “Don’t listen to the noise. People are gonna ask a lot of questions. You have to keep it simple. It’s a long season and you have to try not to get distracted. There’s gonna be a lot of noise if he keeps this up. You just have to do the work.”
Alonso himself admitted that it would be “really cool” if he was to break Judge’s record. He has a way to go to break Bonds’ record of 73 in the NL, but Alonso says that playing well for the team is his main focus.
“I feel really good and hopefully I continue to play well for the team and if I play well and stay consistent, that could happen,” said Alonso. “It would be really cool if it happened.”
“Just really understanding what I can and can’t handle,” Alonso added. “I feel like I am doing a really good job of capitalizing on stuff in my zone and then if it’s not there, not swinging or just having a good at-bat.”
“Every season is its own entity, but I do feel really good right now, so I just need to stay right here where I’m at and just try to stack as many good at-bats together as possible.”
Mets star and Alonso’s teammate, Francisco Lindor, did not play down the talk of Alonso breaking the record. In fact, he went as far as to state that he believes his teammate can go on to break the 60-home run barrier this season.
“I truly believe he can hit 60 homers,” Lindor told The New York Post . “This year, or at some point in his career I think he will.”
“Pete is one of the best pure power hitters in the game,” Lindor added. “He’s not trying to hit home runs. He doesn’t have to sacrifice an at-bat to hit a home run.”
