NEW YORK (AP) – The jury is out on AL MVP. And when a verdict comes in later this fall, giant slugger Aaron Judge has a great chance to join a very small club.
Fred Lynn (1975) and Ichiro Suzuki (2001) are the only major leaguers to win Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year awards in the same season. To match that rare achievement, the 6-foot-7 Judge must fend off some tiny competition.
In an American League version of David and Goliath, the top challenger to the New York Yankees’ 282-pound slugger for MVP honors this year is Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve.
That means the main man standing in Judge’s way is generously listed at 5-6 and 165 pounds.
“It’s the beauty of baseball. There’s not a whole lot of limitations,” Tampa Bay pitcher Chris Archer said. “You can be 5-5 or you can be 6-8 and a monster and be really talented at this game, so I love it.”