Aaron Judge hits the hardest home run of the Statcast Era (Video)

New York Yankees rookie phenom Aaron Judge just hit the hardest home run since in the history of MLB’s Statcast.

I don’t know if you’ve heard but Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge is good. He’s really good. Like, historically good. Earlier this year, Judge became the first right-handed batter to hit 13 home runs in his team’s first 26 games since Willie Mays. He also became the fastest rookie to 15 home runs since Mark McGwire in 1987.

Mays and McGwire — not bad names to be compared to for the 6-foot-7 outfielder who was not even a lock to make the Yankees roster coming out of Spring Training.

Judge is doing things so far this season that no MLB player as tall as he is has ever done before in league history. Now, he has another accolade to add to his resume. In the first inning on Saturday night against the Baltimore Orioles, Judge ripped a 121-mph laser that just stayed inside the foul pole in left field for the hardest home run hit since MLB rolled out its Statcast data system.

Here is the official data from Statcast for Judge’s 19th home run of the season. We offer our deepest sympathies to Chris Tillman. He used to be a good pitcher.

Judge has looked like a completely different player from the overmatched rookie who struggled in 27 games after being called up briefly last year. In 27 games with the Yankees last year, judge struck out 42 times in 84 official at-bats.

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The rookie is not just a candidate for AL Rookie of the Year. With Mike Trout on the disabled list, Judge is the leader for AL MVP. He now has six home runs and 11 RBI against the Orioles on the year and is slugging over .900 against them. No player Judge’s size has ever managed to sustain the levels he has been at this year, but the rest of the league has been unable to find the holes in his swing. Something special is brewing in New York with the new core that is arriving in the big leagues.