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The New York Yankees are off to a hot start in 2024. After missing the postseason in 2023, the Yankees are 6-1 to start the season. They swept the Houston Astros and won two out of three against the reigning National League Champions, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Just one week into the season a panel of MLB.com experts predict Yankees outfielders Aaron Judge and Juan Soto to earn All-MLB Team selections.
The expert panel’s votes yielded that Soto would be one of three outfielders on the All-MLB First Team while Judge would be on the All-MLB Second Team, according to MLB.com’s Thomas Harrigan.
MLB introduced All-MLB Team honors in 2019. Fans make up half of the vote while a panel of experts make up the other half.
Soto and Judge Have Already Earned All-MLB Honors
Soto was named to the All-MLB First Team in 2020 and 2021 and the All-MLB Second Team in 2019. Judge earned All-MLB First Team honors in 2021 and 2022 and Second Team honors in 2023.
Only Mookie Betts has been named to more All-MLB Teams than Soto and Judge. Judge’s best season came in 2022 when he hit a historic 62 home runs. Judge won the American League MVP Award.
Soto’s best season came in 2021 when he slashed .313/.465/.534 while leading the majors with 145 walks. He finished second in votes for the National League MVP Award.
The Yankees acquired Soto in a seven-player trade from the San Diego Padres. He has already made several clutch plays in just his first few games on the team. On opening day, he cut down the tying run at home plate in the ninth inning. In the series finale, he gave the Yankees the lead in the ninth inning with a RBI single.
“Soto’s lifetime 157 OPS+ through the end of 2023 was the ninth-highest mark all time for a player through his age-24 season (minimum 2,500 plate appearances). Judge, meanwhile, led all players in homers (253) and ranked second (minimum 2,000 PAs) in OPS+ (167) from 2017-23,” wrote Harrigan.
Yankees Duo Projections
Soto and Judge have already established themselves individually as two of the best outfielders in baseball. However, now sharing an outfield, the duo projects to do serious damage for the Yankees.
According to Baseball-Reference, Judge, 32, is projected to slash .283/.392/.595 in 2024, with 37 home runs with a league-leading .986 OPS. Soto, 25, is projected to slash .278/.418/.507 with 28 home runs. He also projects to lead the majors in walks for the fourth time in his career.
On March 27, one day before the season started, FanGraphs projected the Yankees to win the division with 87 wins, and a %72.0 chance to make the postseason. On April 4, after the Yankees’ 6-1 start, they have a win projection of 90 games and an %83.7 chance to make the postseason.
Judge is off to a relatively slow start to 2024. He is 5 of 28 at the dish with just one home run. Soto, on the other hand, is off to a great start for his new team. He is slashing .345/.441/.483 with four RBIs.
With eight All-Star selections and seven Silver Slugger Awards between them, Judge and Soto can quickly become one of the best duos in the majors.