Yankees Great Derek Jeter Impressed by Aaron Judge

Taking away the American League MVP from Mike Trout won’t be an easy task, but at the rate in which Yankees rookie, Aaron Judge is currently excelling, anything is possible.

Another game, another monster home run. That’s become the story of the early season for Yankees stud Aaron Judge.

The 6-foot-7, 282-pound behemoth, who swings a 35-inch, 33-ounce telephone pole for a bat, became the youngest player in the history of baseball to hit 13 home runs in the first 26 games of a season.

On the back of a 3-for-5 effort, which included a homer and two RBI, Judge finished with the first multi-hit game of his young career, as the Yankees rallied to beat the Blue Jays 8-6.

Judge has picked up where Gary Sanchez’s electricity left off in 2016, becoming the seventh player in MLB history to hit at least 17 long balls in his first 52 games.

Before Judge’s one-out single in the seventh inning to begin the Yanks’ rally, fans at the stadium greeted him to a chorus of MVP chants. Sure, the season is technically only 16 percent complete, but New York has already caught Judge fever.

Count Derek Jeter among those singing the 25-year-old California native’s praises.

In an interview posted to the team’s official website earlier this week, Jeter spoke fondly about Judge.

“The good thing about him is you can tell from his demeanor and his attitude that he wants to improve, he wants to be better and he handles himself the right way, not only on the field but off the field. So I’m a fan of his.”

The New York Daily News recently caught up with Jeter who reflected about the brief time he and Judge spent together at the Captain’s Camp in Tampa.

“Aaron was always listening… I’m happy to see that he’s having success,” Jeter said. “You want him to continue to have success because, you know obviously the more success you have, the higher the expectations are.”

This morning on MLB Network Radio, former big leaguer Eduardo Perez said that he had the opportunity to interview Judge before yesterday’s game, and came away super impressed by the humility and kind manners of the big kid.

Perez said that Judge took the time to shake hands and ask each individuals’ name that he came in contact with.

If only more professional athletes would take a page out of Judge’s playbook. Negative Nancy’s will point out that Judge has yet to be jaded by the bright lights of New York City, and the media scrutiny that surrounds it.

While that’s entirely possible, Judge did one hell of a job of rebounding from last summers less than stellar first taste of big league ball. He worked extremely hard this offseason to better himself in all facets of his game and it has shown in a major way, as the Yankees now have another legitimate future All-Star to lead by example.

Upon hearing what Jeter had to say about him, Judge responded:

“It’s incredible, especially a guy I looked up to for years growing up,” Judge said Wednesday. “To hear him say that, it’s special. It’s humbling.”

Next: Ellsbury Hurting; Fowler Excelling

Here’s to never-changing your attitude, mindset or ambition, Aaron. Rock on!