Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge came in fourth place in 2021 American League Most Valuable Player voting.
The Baseball Writers Association of America revealed Thursday that Los Angeles Angels outfielder Shohei Ohtani won the award by a unanimous vote. Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and second baseman Marcus Semien came in second and third place, respectively.
This is the second-closest Judge came to winning the MVP award, infamously coming in second place to Jose Altuve in 2017.
In 2021, Judge hit .287 with 39 home runs and 98 RBI. However, the biggest stat for many Yankees fans is the 148 games played this season, the second-most games played in his career – just shy of the 155 games played in the aforementioned 2017 season.
With the Yankees fighting for a playoff spot, it was Judge and Giancarlo Stanton who helped the Bronx Bombers go 9-3 in the final two weeks of the season and capture a Wild Card. Judge clinched his team a playoff berth when he drove in the lone run in the Yanks’ 1-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in the final game of the season.
Judge has one year left on his contract with the Yankees and both sides are looking to agree on a contract extension. Fans will just have to wait and see if it happens before the start of the 2022 season.