Yankees' Aaron Judge is off to better start than MVP season

The regular season is about one-third of the way through and miraculously, Judge is arguably having a slightly better year offensively and is on pace to match his AL-record-setting 62 home runs from last fall.

USA Today's Bob Nightengale tweeted some of Judge's offensive numbers on Thursday (the Yankees had a day off) and Jayson Stark of The Athletic took a deeper dive into the statistics.

In Stark's "5 wildest MLB stats of 2023 (so far)," his first section is devoted to No. 99's prowess.

What makes Judge's start to the season even more remarkable is that he missed 10 straight games from late April to early May while he was on the injury list with a hip ailment. Since he returned to the lineup on May 9, he's smashed 12 home runs across 76 at-bats.

"So maybe, with that time he spent on the injured list, Judge won’t hit 62 again. But other than that ... wow," Stark wrote. "Aaron Judge is every bit the monster in 2023 that he was in 2022. And remember, we all once thought that was impossible. Right? Wrong!"

Despite missing the first week-plus of May, Judge has a great chance to be named the AL Player of the Month thanks to his dozen dingers, 25 RBIs, 23 runs scored, 20 walks and elite .342/.474/.882 slash line over 21 games.

Unsurprisingly, the Yankees have gone as Judge has gone this spring, posting a 29-18 record when the 31-year-old plays and just a 5-6 mark when he doesn't.

Judge will take his act to Hollywood this weekend, as New York starts a three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.