Each regular season, the Hank Aaron Award honors the best offensive performer in the American and the National League. In 2025, two of MLB’s brightest stars claimed the prestigious accolade after seasons worthy of its Hall of Fame namesake.
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Fresh off winning the AL and NL Most Valuable Player Awards, Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge and Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani claimed the 2025 Hank Aaron Awards during Thursday’s MLB Awards show presented by MGM Rewards. It was a back-to-back victory and third win overall for both sluggers. Ohtani has now won three straight (one in the AL and two in the NL), while Judge has won in three of the past four years (interrupted only by Ohtani).
Recipients of the Hank Aaron Award, first given out in 1999 -- 25 years after Aaron broke Babe Ruth's career home run record -- are determined by votes from baseball fans as well as from a panel of Hall of Famers and previous winners. Judge and Ohtani both beat out nine other nominees from each league. Here’s what made them deserving of the honor this season.
AL: Aaron Judge, Yankees
Fresh on the heels of his historic 2024, Judge produced one of the best follow-up seasons in MLB history. In his age-33 campaign, the Yankees captain posted a .331/.457/.688 slash line, slugging 53 home runs and driving in 114 runs.
Judge led the AL with 124 walks and led MLB in all three triple-slash statistics as well as bWAR (9.7) and OPS+ (215). In most of those categories, it wasn’t close: The next-closest qualified batting average was .311, while Judge was the only qualifying player with an OBP above .400.
Gaudy numbers are nothing new for him, either. Judge broke Roger Maris’ AL home run record with 62 dingers in 2022, netting him 28 of 30 first-place AL MVP votes and his first MVP crown. He was the unanimous MVP in 2024, posting one of the best offensive seasons by a right-handed hitter on record: .322/.458/.701 (1.159 OPS) with 58 homers and 144 RBIs.
As his Hank Aaron Award-winning 2025 proved, Judge is still in the midst of his prime. While postseason stats were not considered for the Aaron Award, Judge was excellent during the Yankees’ playoff run, batting 13-for-26 (.500) with a huge three-run, game-tying home run in Game 3 of the AL Division Series against the Blue Jays.
NL: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers
Returning to the mound without missing a beat at the plate? Only Ohtani. Pitching again in 2025 for the first time since 2023, the Dodgers’ one-of-a-kind superstar toned down the stolen-base attempts a year after creating the 50-50 club with 54 home runs and 59 steals in 2024, but he still had the best offensive season of any National League player.
In just his second year with the Dodgers, Ohtani broke his own franchise single-season record for home runs (54 in 2024), smashing a career-high 55 -- one off the National League lead. Leading off for Los Angeles, Ohtani scored an MLB-high 146 runs and led the NL in both slugging percentage (.622) and OPS (1.014). He also had a 2.87 ERA with 62 strikeouts in 47 innings as a pitcher, although neither his production on the hill nor his second straight championship run with the Dodgers was considered for the Hank Aaron Award.
Since the Hank Aaron Award was introduced in 1999, only Ohtani and Alex Rodriguez (2001-03) have won it in three consecutive seasons. 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.