Yankees' Aaron Judge will skip 2025 Home Run Derby: 'Only if I'm talking about it here' in New York

Judge won the 2017 Home Run Derby and has skipped it every year since

Once again, New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge will skip the Home Run Derby this year, he told reporters Thursday. Judge won the Home Run Derby in 2017, his rookie year, and has not participated in it since.

"Nope. Same answer," Judge told Newsday when asked about the Home Run Derby on Thursday. "Only if I'm talking about it here [in New York]."

Judge has said in the past that the only way he'll take his swings in the Home Run Derby again is if the All-Star Game is in New York. That might not happen anytime soon. The Mets hosted the All-Star Game in Citi Field in 2013. The Yankees last hosted the All-Star Game in 2008, the last year of the old Yankee Stadium.

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The 2026 All-Star Game will be held in Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park. The 2027 All-Star Game is expected to go to Chicago's Wrigley Field, though that is not official yet. Also, the Blue Jays have not hosted an All-Star Game since 1991. Toronto is overdue and the team just completed a massive multi-year renovation at Rogers Centre. They could get the 2028 event.

It's likely New York will not host the All-Star Game until the 2030s, when Judge will be nearing the end of his career. So, unless he changes his mind about only participating in the Home Run Derby when it returns to New York, chances are Judge will never do it again. He won it in 2017 and that's enough for him.

Following that 2017 Home Run Derby win, Judge acknowledged it exacerbated a shoulder injury he suffered crashing into the wall a few weeks earlier. He needed surgery on the shoulder after the season.

Judge, a two-time MVP, is off to the finest start of his career this season. He's hitting .392/.493/.758 with 21 home runs. Those 21 homers are the third most in baseball behind Cal Raleigh (24) and Shohei Ohtani (23), though Judge leads baseball in batting average by 29 points, on-base percentage by 59 points, and slugging percentage by 110 points.

The 2025 Home Run Derby will take place at Atlanta's Truist Park on Monday, July 14. No players have committed to the event yet. Voting for the All-Star Game starters opened earlier this week. Here's who we think should be there.