{"id":43531,"date":"2025-04-24T02:41:17","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T02:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=43531"},"modified":"2025-04-24T02:41:17","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T02:41:17","slug":"yankees-carlos-rodons-honest-revelation-on-what-surprises-him-about-aaron-judge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=43531","title":{"rendered":"Yankees&#8217; Carlos Rodon&#8217;s honest revelation on what surprises him about Aaron Judge"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"flex w-full max-w-[980px] flex-col px-4 pt-4 font-secondary lg:px-0\">\n<p class=\"dek prose mb-2.5 italic text-secondary\">Aaron Judge never ceases to amaze<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full max-w-[980px] flex-row gap-5\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col lg:max-w-[660px]\">\n<div class=\"px-4 pb-5 lg:px-0\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-wrap justify-between gap-4  font-secondary md:items-center \">\n<div class=\"flex-row flex-wrap items-center text-primary\">\n<div class=\"author-link mr-2.5 flex items-center text-sm md:text-nowrap \">\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aspect-video w-full max-w-full object-contain object-center px-4 lg:px-0\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/New-York-Yankees-starting-pitcher-Carlos-Rodon-55-throws-a-pitch-during-the-first-inning-against-the-Cleveland-Guardians.jpg?w=1200\" alt=\"Apr 23, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodon (55) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images\" \/><\/figure>\n<article class=\"article-body prose max-w-none pb-7 pt-5 prose-figure:max-w-full prose-ol:pl-10 prose-img:max-w-full prose-video:max-w-full md:prose-ol:pl-6 [&amp;_iframe]:m-auto [&amp;_iframe]:block [&amp;_iframe]:max-w-full\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">New York Yankees\u00a0pitcher\u00a0<\/span>Carlos Rodon\u00a0has strongly praised\u00a0Aaron Judge<span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. During the 2024 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Rodon said, \u201cHe&#8217;s the best hitter in the game.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">On Thursday, Rodon once again\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">expressed his admiration<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0for Judge when asked what\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">surprises him, per Erik Boland of Newsday Sports<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span>\u00a0<span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">This<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> came after Rodon threw for seven innings with eight strikeouts and gave up no runs as the Yankees defeated the Cleveland Guardians 5-1.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cNo, not really. I&#8217;m just surprised when\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">he<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0gets out<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, how<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0about that?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">he<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0said.\u00a0 Judge got two hits, an RBI, and scored one run.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Yankees are currently 15-10 in first place in the American League East. Meanwhile, Judge is on a clinic through the season&#8217;s first month.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He is hitting .415 with seven home runs, 26 RBIS, and 39 hits. Rodon&#8217;s performance against Cleveland comes a week after he\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">set an unwanted Yankees record\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">of allowing 51 home runs in his first 50 appearances with the club.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Rodon recognizes Judge&#8217;s evident prowess as nothing new, considering he has compared him to some of the game&#8217;s greatest players.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Carlos Rodon&#8217;s passionate praise of Aaron Judge goes a long way<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/h2>\n<div class=\"not-prose flex w-full flex-col gap-2 divide-y divide-solid divide-[#58585820] bg-[#FAFAFA] px-4 pt-5\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col\">\n<article class=\"article-body prose max-w-none pb-7 pt-5 prose-figure:max-w-full prose-ol:pl-10 prose-img:max-w-full prose-video:max-w-full md:prose-ol:pl-6 [&amp;_iframe]:m-auto [&amp;_iframe]:block [&amp;_iframe]:max-w-full\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Rodon has had nothing but positive things to say about Judge. He has\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">strongly compared<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0Judge&#8217;s current performance to that of Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, saying he could even mirror Hank Aaron.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cRight now, he&#8217;s like Tony Gwynn,\u201d Rod\u00f3n told the New York Post. \u201cNext week, he&#8217;ll probably be like Hank Aaron. This week, we saw a little bit of speed and the\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">hitability<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> of Judge. So I&#8217;m excited to see what happens on Friday. I&#8217;m just surprised when he gets out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">There is no question that Judge has been the Yankees&#8217; big name since he entered the league in 2017. Judge has continued the lineage of Yankees greatness dating back to Babe Ruth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He has done so by being a standout hitter. Judge holds the American League record for the most home runs in a single season, with 62 in 2022. He also equaled Ruth&#8217;s home run total (321) in his first 1,000 games with the Yankees.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Judge is a two time American League MVP (2022, 2024) and holds the distinction of being the Yankees team captain. An honor once held by Lou Gehrig, Thurman Munson, and Derek Jeter.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aaron Judge never ceases to amaze New York Yankees\u00a0pitcher\u00a0Carlos Rodon\u00a0has strongly praised\u00a0Aaron Judge. During the 2024 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Rodon said, \u201cHe&#8217;s the&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43537,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Yankees&#039; Carlos Rodon&#039;s honest revelation on what surprises him about Aaron Judge - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=43531\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yankees&#039; Carlos Rodon&#039;s honest revelation on what surprises him about Aaron Judge - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Aaron Judge never ceases to amaze New York Yankees\u00a0pitcher\u00a0Carlos Rodon\u00a0has strongly praised\u00a0Aaron Judge. 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