Anthony Rizzo doesn’t hold back on MVP race as Aaron Judge

As the debate for this season's American League MVP rages, former New York Yankees infielder Anthony Rizzo shared his pick between Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh.

While Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh has made history, becoming the first catcher to hit 60 home runs in a season, Yankees captain Aaron Judge leads the league in several offensive metrics in a remarkable hitting season.

Although it has been an intense battle between the two All-Star sluggers who are having historic seasons, Rizzo, who spent three seasons with Judge in the Yankees clubhouse, gave his former captain the nod for this year's prize.

The former All-Star infielder, who announced his retirement earlier this year, shared a bold message in his Instagram story, sharing a clip of Judge's 53rd home run of the season while taking a dig at Houston Astros slugger Jose Altuve.

"Judge is the MVP! Consistency, power and leadership are unmatched and truthfully, this should be his 4th MVP!!!!"

During his rookie season in 2017, Judge controversially lost out to Altuve for the top prize despite his AL-leading 52 home runs compared to the Astros star's 24. Judge's tally was only bettered by his current teammate Giancarlo Stanton (59), who was voted the NL MVP that year.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash

Anthony Rizzo doesn’t hold back on MVP race as Aaron Judge–Cal Raleigh debate intensifies