Aaron Judge‘s historic season has captivated the betting public to the point where some sportsbooks have reported taking more bets on the New York Yankees slugger to hit a home run than on the outcome of games.
Nearly nine times as much money was bet on Judge to hit a home run Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates as was bet on any other player offered at Caesars Sportsbook. BetMGM reported there were more bets on Judge’s home run prop odds than there were on the outcome of the Pirates-Yankees game.
Judge, who has 60 homers this season and is only one shy of tying Roger Maris’ American League record, is +200 at Caesars to hit a home run Thursday in the opener of a four-game series against the Boston Red Sox. Judge hitting a home run Thursday against the Red Sox was the most popular MLB player prop at DraftKings.
Judge settled for a pair of doubles but did not homer Wednesday in the Yankees’ 14-2 rout of the Pirates.
“Fans packed it out to see us win a ballgame and see some homers,” Judge joked after the game. “So I think I got to cut out this double stuff, I guess.”
Judge’s home run odds were as long as +370 when the Yankees opened the season against the Red Sox at Caesars Sportsbook. They’ve been nowhere near that long over the past week, but bettors have not been turned off.
In September at sportsbook PointsBet, Judge has attracted over 13% of all home run wagers. That’s four times as many bets as the second- and third-most wagered players — Paul Goldschmidt and Shohei Ohtani — have attracted combined, according to PointsBet.
Judge also entered Thursday leading the American League in batting average (.317) and RBIs (128), and Caesars Sportsbook is offering the All-Star outfielder at even money to win the Triple Crown.
PointsBet says its liability on Judge winning the Triple Crown is larger than Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes winning the NFL regular-season MVP, which is always a popular awards market.
Judge is a massive -5,000 favorite to win American League MVP at Caesars Sportsbook and even larger at other sportsbooks.