ORLANDO, Fla. _ The verdict is in and it is unanimous.
Aaron Judge is the 2017 American League Rookie of the Year.
The announcement was made on Monday night.
The 25-year-old right fielder took Major League Baseball by storm in 2017, blasting a rookie-record 52 homers _ three more than former record-holder Mark McGwire hit three decades ago.
Judge had to win a spring training competition with Aaron Hicks just to earn his starting spot. He took off from there, leading all AL players in homers (52), runs (128), walks (127) and strikeouts (208). Judge finished second in the AL in RBIs (114) while triple-slashing .284/.422/.627.
The other finalists for AL Rookie of the Year were Boston's Andrew Benintendi and Baltimore's Trey Mancini.
Other notable Baby Bombers to win Rookie of the Year honors include Derek Jeter (1996), Dave Righetti (1981), Thurman Munson (1970) and Tony Kubek (1957).
Judge had hit .179/.263/.345 with four homers and 42 strikeouts in an 84-at-bat cameo in 2016.
Judge, who stands 6-foot-7 and was selected by the Yankees in the first round of the 2013 MLB draft (No. 32 overall), is also a finalist for the AL MVP award, which will be announced on Thursday night. He faces stiff competition from Houston's Jose Altuve for the honor.
Judge also won the 2017 Home Run Derby and captured an AL Silver Slugger award.
