Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge and Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani were named the winners of the 2025 Hank Aaron Awards, which honor the top offensive performers in Major League Baseball’s American and National Leagues. The announcement was made during the MLB Awards show presented by MGM Rewards.
Both Judge and Ohtani have now won the award three times each, with Ohtani achieving his third consecutive win—one in the American League and two in the National League. Judge has won in three of the past four years, with only Ohtani interrupting his streak.
The recipients of the Hank Aaron Award are selected through a combination of fan voting and a panel that includes Hall of Famers and previous winners. The award was first introduced in 1999, 25 years after Hank Aaron surpassed Babe Ruth’s career home run record.
Aaron Judge had another standout season for New York. In his age-33 year, he recorded a .331 batting average, a .457 on-base percentage, and a .688 slugging percentage. He hit 53 home runs and collected 114 RBIs. Judge led the American League with 124 walks and also topped Major League Baseball in all three triple-slash categories (batting average/on-base/slugging), as well as bWAR (9.7) and OPS+ (215). His performance was notable compared to other players; for example, no other qualifying player had an on-base percentage above .400, and the next closest batting average was .311.
Judge’s history of strong performances continued this year. He broke Roger Maris’ AL home run record with 62 homers in 2022, earning most first-place MVP votes that season. In 2024, he was unanimously named MVP after posting a .322/.458/.701 line with 58 home runs and 144 RBIs.
“As his Hank Aaron Award-winning 2025 proved, Judge is still in the midst of his prime,” according to the official announcement. Although postseason statistics are not considered for this award, Judge contributed significantly during the Yankees’ playoff run by hitting .500 (13-for-26) with a crucial three-run home run against Toronto in Game 3 of the AL Division Series.
Shohei Ohtani also delivered an exceptional season for Los Angeles. After returning to pitching for the first time since 2023 while maintaining his offensive production at the plate, Ohtani reduced his stolen base attempts compared to last year but remained highly productive offensively.
In his second season with Los Angeles, Ohtani set a new franchise single-season home run record by hitting 55—surpassing his own previous mark from 2024—and finished just one shy of leading the National League. As leadoff hitter for Los Angeles, he scored an MLB-best 146 runs and led all NL hitters in slugging (.622) and OPS (1.014). On the mound, he posted a 2.87 ERA with 62 strikeouts over 47 innings; however, pitching statistics were not part of Hank Aaron Award consideration.
“Since the Hank Aaron Award was introduced in 1999, only Ohtani and Alex Rodriguez (2001-03) have won it in three consecutive seasons,” stated organizers. “Judge and Ohtani join Rodriguez (four times) and Barry Bonds (2001-02, 2004) as the only players to win the award three or more times.”
The full list of MLB Awards can be found at https://www.mlb.com/news/aaron-judge-shohei-ohtani-win-2025-hank-aaron-awards.
