Typing out that sentence was mind-blowing on its own and it should be mind-blowing whenever you watch this guy at the plate this season. Simply put, Aaron Judge is having the best offensive full season since Barry Bonds retired. Only five of those seasons have come since the turn of the century - Four of which were delivered by Barry Bonds when he was playing a completely different game of baseball from 2001 through 2004 and the last time it happened was when Juan Soto finished the 60-game 2020 season with a wRC+ of 202. If that sounds ridiculous, that’s because it is - In the long, winding history of Major League Baseball, there have only been 33 instances of a player finishing the season with a wRC+ of 200 or above. I’m saying all of that to say that Aaron Judge’s wRC+ is currently at a whopping 203. It also adjusts for both park factors and league factors as well, so it’s a really good catch-all stat for offensive production. If it’s floating at or around 100, you’re league average. ![]() If it’s below 100, you’re not having a great year at all. If your wRC+ is a decent amount above 100, you’re doing pretty good. One of my favorite advanced statistics is wRC+ and that’s mainly because it’s very easy to understand. You know you’re having an incredible season when those two names are being referenced on a regular basis, and that’s what’s been happening when it comes to Judge here in 2022. If (or perhaps, when) Judge eclipses the 60-homer mark, he will have entered the rarefied air that only Babe Ruth and Roger Maris have dared to reach while wearing the Yankee pinstripes. Of course from a counting stats perspective, the fact it’s totally feasible for Judge to finish the season above 60 homers is amazing on its own. If anything, I really hope that fans are appreciating what we’re seeing from Judge this season since he’s been completely astonishing at the plate. The point of bringing that up isn’t to denigrate anything that Aaron Judge is doing. That’s the official record and the one person who could’ve been held accountable about it if steroid usage was actually considered to be a major problem back during that era is currently in the Baseball Hall of Fame, if you want to complain to someone about it. This is actual reality and in this particular universe, Barry Bonds is the single-season home run record holder after he hit 73 dingers in 2001. While it would be nice to live in an alternate reality where lies are true if we believe them, we don’t live in that world. You might see some other writers or fans claim that if Judge finishes in that lofty territory of 60-or-more homers that it would be the “real” record. That is an absolutely incredible achievement in its own right that should be celebrated, but it won’t be the new single-season home run record. At this point, I’d say that it’s pretty likely that he’s going to end with a home run count somewhere in the mid-to-low-60s. Despite having his best home run (13) and RBI (32) months of the season, the Yankees started to show signs that their dominance in 2022 was at an end as they started to slump.Let’s start with the obvious statement: Aaron Judge has a very, very good chance of cracking 60 home runs this year. But July told a very different and contrasting story for the center fielder and the organization. Monthīy June, when Judge slammed in another 11 dingers and drove in 21 more, the Yankees fanbase and the baseball world knew at the very least that there looked to be a legitimate MVP candidate playing in the Bronx. A spot they have held onto the entire season. Not only did he do that, but he also drove in 25 runs and helped to push the Yankees into first place. However, the former first-round pick topped that with what would be his second-best home run month of the seeing when he sent a dozen opposing pitches over the bleachers in May. ![]() The narrative quickly changed as the 30-year-old got off to a strong start in the opening month of the season and smacked six homers to kick off the team’s 2022 campaign. The biggest story at the time was the fact that the Yankees and Judge could not come to terms on a new long-term extension during spring training. In April, New York fans knew they had an elite home run hitter on their roster but they had no idea history was about to begin.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |