Aaron Judge home runs: Yankees slugger's first three-homer night puts elite power into perspective

The Yankees were looking for some sort of spark to snap their nine-game losing streak. They got that on Wednesday from Aaron Judge.

Judge put on the best power display of his career to date in New York's 9-1 win over the Nationals, as the Yankees slugger belted three home runs in a single game for the first time in his career. 

It began in the first inning when he blasted a 431-foot shot to center field in his first at-bat. An inning later, Judge managed to outdo his first plate appearance when he came up to the plate with the bases loaded in the second.

In that at-bat, he once again hit the ball deep to centerfield. This one went 437 feet for the fifth grand slam of his career. That made the score 5-0.

Grand Slam for The Captain 🫡#AllRise pic.twitter.com/bYlFEgZciT

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 23, 2023

And finally, in the seventh inning, Judge managed to poke a 352-foot homer over the short porch in right field at Yankee Stadium. That increased New York's lead to 8-0 and marked the first three-homer game of Judge's career.

For the first time in his career, Aaron Judge homers 3 times in one game. 💪 pic.twitter.com/fXiJAh233j

— MLB (@MLB) August 24, 2023

Judge's power display was certainly impressive, and it was the driving force behind the Yankees snapping their longest losing streak since 1982. It also put into perspective just how impressive the 31-year-old's season has been.

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How many home runs does Aaron Judge have?

Judge has logged 27 home runs during the 2023 MLB season as of the Yankees' 9-1 win over the Nationals on Aug. 23. That may not seem like a lot — it is tied for the fourth-most by him over his eight-season MLB career — but the feat has been an impressive one.

Why? Because Judge has only played in 72 of the Yankees' 126 games to date. He missed 54 games as a result of a toe injury and has acknowledged that he has been playing through pain after returning to help New York battle for a wild-card spot.

Judge's success despite his missed time has allowed him to remain among the top home-run hitters in baseball. He was tied for 16th in MLB at the end of play Wednesday despite being one of just two players among the top 20 to play in fewer than 100 games (J.D. Martinez is the other).

And how has Judge kept up that type of pace? He has managed to be among MLB's best in terms of at-bats per home run. He has averaged a homer every 10.76 at-bats. Only AL MVP frontrunner Shohei Ohtani is averaging a figure lower than Judge in that category (10.5).

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Incredibly, Judge has shown no discernable drop in power from his 2022 campaign, during which set an AL record for most home runs hit in a single season with 62. During that season, Judge hit a homer every 10.88 at-bats.

Unfortunately for Yankees fans, Judge's heroics haven't led to team success. New York has a record of 61-65 and is in danger of posting its first losing season since 1995.

Even still, the Yankees faithful can appreciate Judge's greatness. He remains one of the most feared hitters in baseball, and his three-homer display Wednesday was a reminder of why that is the case.