MLB legend identifies 3 current sluggers with Barry Bonds-level fear factor ft. Aaron Judge

Taking home the AL MVP after an excellent 2024 season, it has been business as usual for New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge yet again this year. As far as hitting goes, Judge has arguably been the best in the majors this season, with a .356 batting average, along with 34 home runs and 78 RBIs.

Reflecting on Judge's fantastic performances over the years, Atlanta Braves great John Smoltz placed the slugger in the same category as the legendary Barry Bonds, along with two other superstars.

"He (Aaron Judge) has got called up to another league, that's what I would say. He is (in a league with Barry Bonds now)," Smoltz said on Wednesday's episode of The Dan Patrick Show (Timestamp: 6:11). "(Shohei Ohtani's also in there). Absolutely. I think (Juan) Soto has the impact on a club that Bonds would have on a club.

"Soto's not going to put up the numbers that Bonds did, but when you talk about impact, him standing in a lineup and never swinging, [but still] making the club better, that's the Bonds effect. The guys before him are going to benefit, because you don't want them on base, and you don't want to face Barry Bonds with men on."

Further, the 1996 NL Cy Young award winner expanded on the dangerous attributes each of the three players has in their game that create a Barry Bonds-like fear factor surrounding them.

"What Aaron Judge has done, is close windows of pitchers getting him out," Smoltz added. "What he's done is gone to the next level, and struck fear in every pitcher. They can no longer approach him the same way. Soto's the same way, he's not going to chase. Ohtani can beat you in so many different ways."

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Aaron Judge is on track to break Barry Bonds' single-season home run record

Renowned for his extraordinary hitting ability, Barry Bonds hit 762 home runs over the course of his career. 73 of those came in the 2001 season, as Bonds set the MLB record for the most home runs in a single season.

With 34 home runs already this season, New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge is well on track to beat that seemingly unbreakable record this year, provided he has a great second half of the season as well.

Seattle Mariners v New York Yankees - Source: Getty

In fact, Judge has come quite close once in the past, hitting 62 home runs in 2022.