Pedro Martinez, the legendary pitcher and former adversary of the Yankees, recently took to social media to commend Aaron Judge’s development at the plate. In a tweet, Martinez noted, “He’s not the same Aaron Judge I witnessed last year. He has adapted to hit to the opposite field, and it’s reflected in his batting average.”

Martinez further highlighted Judge’s progress by saying, “He’s even more formidable now than when he smashed 60+ homers. He’s grown and matured, and looks improved.” This recognition comes as Judge continues to excel in the 2025 season, maintaining a batting average of .412 with 12 homers and 34 RBIs.

His enhanced strategy at the plate, concentrating on opposite-field hitting, has elevated him as a formidable force in the Yankees’ lineup. Judge is hitting to the opposite field 23.5% of the time, a slight drop from 25.6% in 2024. However, this is significantly more than in 2023 or even 2022, when he set the American League home run record with 62.

In 2025, Judge’s .412 batting average, .772 slugging percentage, and .534 weighted on-base average (wOBA), along with a 56.9% hard-hit and a 23.5% barrel rate, validate Martinez’s observation. Judge is indeed a more dangerous hitter. This praise is notable coming from a Red Sox pitcher known for his disdain for Yankees sluggers.

With 219 career wins and a 2.93 ERA, Martinez won three Cy Young Awards and was easily inducted into the Hall of Fame – a place Judge is likely to join him one day. Martinez followed up his praise for Judge with another tweet, humorously referring to his famous comment about the Yankees: “Mi papá es Aaron Judge!, Aaron Judge is my daddy!”