Jazz Chisholm Jr., Anthony Rizzo, and Yankees stars react to Aaron Judge winning the 2025 AL MVP Award

Aaron Judge’s 2025 American League MVP announcement set off a quick burst of Instagram activity on Thursday night, with players across the league posting short, celebratory Stories to recognize the Yankees’ captain.

Judge earned the award after another commanding season in the center of New York’s lineup, edging Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh in one of the tightest MVP races in recent memory.

Within minutes of the news breaking, teammates and fellow players, including Anthony Rizzo, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Gerrit Cole, Oswaldo Cabrera, Jasson Domínguez, Carlos Rodón, Cameron Schlittler, and Austin Wells, shared their own brief nods of support, adding to the wave of reactions that followed his latest milestone.

Players across the league react to Aaron Judge’s 2025 AL MVP on Instagram.

"It’s tough for me to wrap my head around it" - Judge earns third MVP in razor-thin 2025 vote

Aaron Judge moved into rare company on Thursday, becoming just the 13th player in MLB history and the latest Yankee alongside Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, and Mickey Mantle to capture three MVP awards.

In one of the closest races in recent years, the Yankees’ captain edged Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh, finishing with 355 points and 17 first-place votes. Raleigh collected 13 first-place votes and 335 points, while Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez followed in third with 224 points.

For Judge, the significance of the achievement was still sinking in, and he acknowledged it was a moment that wasn’t easy to wrap his mind around.

"It’s tough for me to wrap my head around it," Judge said. "It’s really kind of mind-blowing. I just play this game to win. I play this game for my teammates, my family, all the fans in New York. I just want to go out there and give them my best every single day."

The 2025 vote looked very different from a year ago, when Judge claimed the MVP unanimously. This season, the margin tightened considerably as Cal Raleigh’s unprecedented 60-homer campaign at catcher became one of the defining narratives across the league.

Manager Aaron Boone pointed out that Judge’s sustained brilliance is becoming increasingly difficult to capture in simple terms, saying his level of play has grown beyond easy description.

"I don’t ever want to become desensitized by the consistency and the enormity of his accomplishments," Boone said. "It’s becoming increasingly difficult for me to use words to capture how good he is. He’s just playing at a higher level, and has been for quite some time."

Edited by Shubham Soni