After all, Soto's presence ahead of Judge in the Yankees' lineup did create more opportunities for the latter to bat with a man on base. He saw more pitches to hit accordingly, so of course he went off for a 58-homer, 144-RBI season that netted him his second American League MVP.

Aaron Judge is leading MLB in a handful of major categories, giving the New York Yankees star one of the hottest starts in baseball in the 21st century.

Rodon first saw Judge on June 29, 2017, at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago when the lefthander was with the White Sox. He struck out Judge in his first at-bat and got him to ground to short in his second at-bat of what would be a 12-3 Yankees victory.