Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Backs Aaron Judge for AL MVP - Sports Illustrated Skip to main content

Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Backs Aaron Judge for AL MVP

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reached a major milestone on Wednesday.

The Blue Jays slugger recorded his 100th homer in Toronto’s win against the Rays, becoming the 10th youngest player in MLB history to reach the mark. But aside from his own success on the diamond, the two-time All-star recently shared who he felt should be American League MVP between Angels’ Shohei Ohtani or Yankees’ Aaron Judge.

Guerrero Jr. believes that Judge’s historic production this season puts him as the frontrunner.

“… If they give it to [Shohei] Ohtani, it’d be another steal,” Guerrero Jr. said. “But like I said, Aaron Judge had the numbers of Aaron Judge, and they are much higher than Ohtani’s. Ohtani is an excellent baseball player, but for me, the MVP is Aaron Judge. For me. I don’t know what others think.”

In his quest to become the Yankees single-season home run leader, Judge notched his 56th and 57th home runs against the Red Sox in the Yankees’ 7-6 win on Tuesday night. 

Sitting at 57 after the Yankees’ 5-3 win against Boston on Wednesday at Fenway Park, Judge remains three homers shy of Yankees’ Babe Ruth (60) and four from tying Roger Maris (61) for the franchise’s single-season record. 

Only three other players have hit more homers than Maris in a season. They include Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds, who hit a MLB record 73 in the 2001 season. 

More MLB Coverage:

For more New York Yankees coverage, go to Inside The Pinstripes.