Fun With Numbers Part 2... Judge and Pujols
- Paul Semendinger
- May 30
- 2 min read
By Paul Semendinger
May 30, 2026
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NOTE - The following was originally published (earlier today, on May 30, 2026) in the IBWAA's newsletter, Here's the Pitch.
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In my last article, I shared a host of numbers regarding Aaron Judge. Those numbers were without any context; they were simply statistics I compiled from Baseball-Reference.
In this article, I will reexamine many of those same numbers and compare them against another great right-handed hitter of the modern era, Albert Pujols.
We all know how great Albert Pujols was. His statistics, his numbers, demonstrate this loudly:
Albert Pujols won three Most Valuable Player Awards
He was an 11-time All-Star
He won six Silver Slugger Awards
Pujols hit over 700 lifetime home runs
Pujols hit 40 or more home runs in a season seven times (though he never reached 50)
Albert Pujols is one of only 21 position players in MLB history to amass more than 100 WAR (101.3)
What follows is a comparison between many of Aaron Judge’s numbers (ones I shared in my last article) and Albert Pujols:
Aaron Judge’s best month is May. He’s a .329 hitter in May. Amazingly, May is the only month in which Judge has a .300 or better batting average. Albert Pujols’ best month was August (.308). he hit over .300 in July, August, and Sept/Oct.
Aaron Judge bats .275 in August, his worst month. Pujols’ worst month was March/April (.277)
In games the Yankees win, Aaron Judge is batting .335. Pujols hit .343 in winning games.
In Yankees loses, Judge is batting .230. Pujols hit .241 in losses.
As a pinch hitter, Judge is 1-for 18, Pujols batted .303 (27 for 89) as a pinch-hitter.
The most popular spot for Aaron Judge to bat in the lineup is second. Albert Pujols mostly batted third.
With two strikes, Aaron Judge’s batting average is .191. Pujols hit .232.
Judge bats .443 on the first pitch of an at-bat. Pujols hit .339.
Judge’s best inning is the sixth. He is batting .319 in that inning. For Pujols, it was the fifth inning (.326)
Judge's worst inning is the ninth. He is batting .259 in that inning. Pujols batted .291 in the ninth inning.
Aaron Judge is batting .239 in extra innings. Albert Pujols batted .291 in extras.
One would probably think that Aaron Judge feats on fastballs, but he does not. Against power pitchers, Judge is hitting .238. Pujols hit .260.
The player most similar to Aaron Judge is Ralph Kiner. The player most similar to Albert Pujols is Hank Aaron.
Of all of the most similar players to Aaron Judge, the only Hall of Famers to date are Ralph Kiner and Willie McCovey. Pujols compares to six Hall of Famers: Aaron, Willie Mays, Frank Robinson, Eddie Murray, Ken Griffey, and Stan Musial. The non-Hall of Famers who compare most to Pujols are Alex Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro, Miguel Cabrera, and Barry Bonds.
We all know how great Aaron Judge is. This exercise also demonstrated how very great Albert Pujols was.
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Paul Semendinger’s latest books are West Point at Gettysburg and The Greatest New York Yankees By Uniform Number. Paul runs the Yankees site Start Spreading the News.
Pujols was really great while in his 20s, declined some in his early 30s, and then just sort on hung around for a decade.
Judge got a later MLB start, but has been clearly the AL MVP in his early 30s.
he may never equal Pujols' career total 101 WAR as he ferdandsure aint gonna equal Pujols' career total PAs and ABs