Even now, Yankees' Aaron Judge is greatest right-handed hitter in MLB history

Aaron Judge hasn't had the greatest start to the 2026 MLB season, but it actually just serves as a good time to take in the full picture with a bit wider perspective.

Even amid these slight struggles, Judge is the greatest right-handed hitter in baseball history.

This isn't just some claim. The numbers back up that, on a rate basis, no one has been better from Judge from this side of the plate.

The easy way to do this is to look at Adjusted OPS+. It accounts for era, and it makes league-average 100.

Judge's Adjusted OPS+ for his career is currently 178. No righty hitter has ever been better.

He's sixth all-time, with just five lefties in front of him: Babe Ruth (206), Ted Williams (191), Oscar Charleston (184), Barry Bonds (182) and Lou Gehrig (179).

The next-best right-hander is Rogers Hornsby in eighth on the list at 175 in Adjusted OPS+.

All of this to say: Slow down the roll on any Judge bashing.

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Yankees fans are quick to boo, or hate, or complain. When Judge doesn't come through one time with runners on base, it's somehow an indictment of everything he is.

That's so shortsighted, though. Hitting is hard, and pitching in this era is better than ever, and yes somehow Judge is still making a case as the greatest right-handed bat of all time.

Sure, if he declines as he ages, his career rate stats might drop a bit.

But if Judge walked away from the game this week, he'd have the best right-handed Adjusted OPS+ mark in the history of the sport.

It'd be hard to ask for anything more from Judge. He's as special a hitter as there pretty much has ever been.

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