MLB insider believes teams should treat Aaron Judge like Barry Bonds at the plate

It's safe to say that Aaron Judge is the best hitter in baseball at this stage of the 2025 MLB season. The New York Yankees superstar is not only tearing the cover off the ball but he is also helping keep his team afloat amid a number of injuries and underperforming stars.

The two-time American League MVP has emerged as the clear frontrunner to win the award yet again thanks to his utter dominance at the plate this season. Through 43 games this season, Aaron Judge leads Major League Baseball in several categories, including a .412 batting average, 15 home runs, 41 RBI, and a 1.279 OPS.

It's fair to say that Aaron Judge is performing like a modern-day Barry Bonds at the plate, a comparison reiterated by insider Mark DeRosa on the latest episode of MLB Central. The former infielder believes that opposing teams and pitchers need to be approaching Judge in the same fashion as team's used to do with the San Francisco Giants legend.

"Baseball awareness would tell you, no chance of doing that in that situation. You're not putting the winning run on, it was 2-2 at the time. Bellinger's struggling a little bit behind him, Volpe's struggling a little bit behind him and I think LeMahieu was sitting right behind him... You have to treat him like Barry Bonds," DeRosa explained.

Throughout his legendary career with the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants, Barry Bonds was intentionally walked a whopping 688 times. To put that into perspective, Albert Pujols is second on the all-time intentional walks list at 316.

Barry Bonds was such a menace at the plate that teams would walk in a run as opposed to allowing him hit with the bases loaded. This could be the case for Aaron Judge if he continues to absolutely mash at the plate.

"I know you're not gonna put 4 fingers up every time but there are certain moments where a guy just tells you that he's better than the game right now, Aaron Judge has reached that pinnacle," DeRosa continued.

Aaron Judge is on-pace to threaten his own single-season home run record

There is no denying that Judge is one of the best pure home run hitters in baseball, literally setting a new single-season home run record in the American League in 2022, hitting 62 bombs for the Yankees. Even though the previous record, set by Roger Maris, held for decades, Judge could once again look to break the AL record yet again.

According to Fangraphs, Aaron Judge is currently projected to finish the season with 57 home runs, however a single hot streak could help the New York Yankees captain break it once more. While he may never break Barry Bonds' 73 home run season, he could certainly break the 60 homer threshold once again this year.