Yankees' Aaron Judge's AL MVP candidacy took major hit after Cal Raleigh's historic night

New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge has some catching up to do after a historic Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium. Judge, who has hit 48 home runs this season, is now behind by eight home runs to his AL MVP contender and Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh.

The switch-hitter exploded for back-to-back home runs in the third and fourth innings against the Kansas City Royals to achieve several historic feats. His 55th home run in the third inning broke Mickey Mantle's 1961 record for most home runs in a single season by a switch-hitter. Next up, Raleigh broke loose again for another towering shot to tie Ken Griffey Jr.'s 56 home run record for the most home runs by a Mariners player in a single season.

The pair of home runs might just dent Judge's stock for the AL MVP race. While the Yankees star is hitting .325, way better than Raleigh's .247, the home run category and voter fatigue can pretty much rob him of a third MVP.

Aaron Judge's convincing AL MVP case 

If we isolate the two MVPs Aaron Judge already has, one can argue he has a pretty compelling case to win an MVP. Home runs don't really tell how the hitter has been, as they only show the power of a particular star. Other facets of hitting include hitting for contact, base stealing and consistency. Judge pretty much subdues Cal Raleigh and the rest of the league by a far margin in those.

Judge leads in key offensive metrics: batting average (.326), on-base percentage (.451), slugging (.676), OPS (1.127), etc. However, his flexor strain that sidelined him from such games on top of his defensive value seeing a drop since he played designated hitter might come to play in the end in favor of Raleigh's high defensive appeal as a catcher.