Juan Soto is having a career year, even if Yankees teammate Aaron Judge is overshadowing him

Soto has leveled up just before he's set to hit free agency

By Mike Axisa Aug 6, 2024 at 2:16 pm ET• 6 min read

By almost any measure, New York Yankees star Aaron Judge has been the best hitter in baseball in 2024. Entering play Tuesday, Judge is hitting .322 and has eight more home runs than any other player. He has a 19-point lead in on-base percentage, a 70-point lead in slugging percentage, a 122-point lead in OPS, and a 32-point lead in OPS+. Judge is 1 of 1.

One of the few hitters comparable to Judge these days is his teammate, Juan Soto. Soto is the only other qualified hitter in baseball whose on-base percentage starts with a 4 (.437), and he's top five in batting average (.310), slugging percentage (.598), OPS (1.035), and OPS+ (187). Soto is having one of the best offensive seasons by a Yankee in the Expansion Era (since 1961):

1. 2024 Aaron Judge:217 OPS+
2. 2022 Aaron Judge:210 OPS+
3. 1961 Mickey Mantle:206 OPS+
4. 1962 Mickey Mantle:195 OPS+
5. 2024 Juan Soto:187 OPS+

"He's been carrying this team all year," Judge told ESPN about Soto in June. "And anytime you go up against good teams like this and fans pay to come see us do our thing, they want to see the best out there."

Judge is the greatest offensive force in the game, so much so that he was intentionally walked with the bases empty in the second inning this past Saturday. Soto, despite being so good and such a high profile player, is playing second fiddle to Judge. I can't imagine there have been many times in Soto's life when he's been the second-best hitter on his own team.