Aaron Judge delivered quite possibly of the greatest hostile season in baseball history last year. Besides the fact that he set an American Association record by smashing 62 grand slams, he likewise turned out to be just the eighth player in MLB history to create an OPS+ of 210 or greater in a time of at least 600 plate appearances.
Under the watchful eye of Judge’s gigantic 2022 mission, just Angel Ruth, Rogers Hornsby, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Imprint McGwire and Barry Bonds had at any point achieved that.
Considering how uncommon of a season it was, it wouldn’t be preposterous to think that Judge, even with additional incredible seasons later on, may in all likelihood never replicate what he did in 2022. In any case, considering what he’s done as such far in ’23, it’s become sensible to inquire: Might he at any point rehash it? Or on the other hand, might we venture to contemplate … an even better season?
Here’s a look at why Judge, who was named American League Player of the Month for May and has been red-hot since returning from a hip injury, could, amazingly, outdo himself yet again:
He’s shown he’s just as dangerous at the plate as ever
There was just a single range of 16 games last season in which Judge hit more homers while producing a higher Operations than his result from May 13-31 (12 homers, 1.588 Operations). That was from July 14-Aug. 1, 2022, when he sent off 13 homers with a 1.612 Operations.
This demonstrates that Judge remains basically a similar hitter as he was in his record-breaking season – – one could contend he’s been even better given his nature of contact and anticipated statistics; more on those underneath.
Many star sluggers of the past had vocation years prior to regressing to only “great” seasons the remainder of the way. Take the Yankees legend whose
AL single-season grand slam record Judge obscured last season, Roger Maris. Maris had precisely the same number of at-bats the year after he belted 61 homers to break Darling Ruth’s imprint in 1961 (590), yet he hit “as it were” 33 homers with an Operations in excess of 150 points lower.
With his extraordinary two or more weeks at the plate in the wake of returning from a hip injury, Judge is proving he remains as hazardous as could be expected, even after one of the unsurpassed great single-season exhibitions in the game’s storied history.
Through 49 games, his numbers are nearly identical to last year’s
In spite of getting having a hard time – – slow by Judge’s elevated norms, in any case – – the hotshot slugger is fundamentally correct where he was through similar number of
games played last season. He’s even a shade better.
Judge was hitting .255/.349/.481 with six homers through May 12, yet with his slugging binge since then, he currently has 19 homers on the season to oblige a 1.078 Operations. Indeed, he missed 10 games because of the hip issue, yet through similar number of games played last season, he had 19 homers and a 1.034 Operations.
So, won’t the 10 missed games be a problem in Judge’s quest for a season that tops his 2022? They certainly could. He’s actually played in nine fewer games than he did by the Yankees’ 60th game of 2022 — the club played in its 60th game of this season Saturday at Dodger Stadium.
But consider that Judge only had one home run through his first 13 games last year — from then on, he homered once every 8.6 at-bats and posted a 1.143 OPS.
If Judge were to homer every 8.6 at-bats with a 1.143 OPS the rest of this season, assuming the same average number of at-bats per game as 2022, and accounting for the occasional off-day (we’ll give him four, the same number as in 2022), he’d finish with … 60 homers and an OPS a touch over 1.100. He hit 62 homers with a 1.111 OPS last season.
Could the margin of error in our rough calculations here be +/- three homers? If so, don’t dismiss the case for a 63-plus-homer season for Judge in 2023, especially given how hard he’s hitting the baseball..
His quality of contact is even better than it was in 2022
While it may not have seemed
possible entering 2023, Judge is actually hitting the ball harder more consistently than he did in ’22.
Entering play Saturday, Judge’s hard-hit rate was up (62.8% to 61.8% last year), as was his barrel rate (30.1% to 26.5%), average exit velocity (97.1% to 95.9%), expected slugging percentage (.756 to .706) and expected weighted on-base average (.474 to .463).
Will Judge’s 2023 surpass his ’22? The jury’s still out
Sometimes, getting locked in at the plate is
remarkably simple. It seems that was the case for Judge when he flipped the switch last month.
“I’m just getting ready to hit,” Judge told reporters after belting two homers to begin his torrid run at the plate on May 13. “[Instead of] thinking too much about trying to get your pitch. Just get ready to drive the baseball and keep it simple. … When it comes down to it, you’ve got to be ready to hit and not miss your pitch.”
He hasn’t been missing his
pitch lately, and the Yankees have been surging since he’s returned — without him, New York went 4-6. Since then, the Bronx Bombers, with their biggest bomber back in the lineup, have won 15 of 22. And when Judge has homered, the Yankees are 18-1.
