The Month of April That Aaron Judge Just Had Was Pretty Much Beyond Comprehension And The Fact That He's Seemingly Getter Better Is Inexplicable
Icon Sportswire. Getty Images.Last year Aaron Judge hit 58 homers, drove in 144, batted .322, and posted a 1.159 OPS on way his way to his second MVP award. Light work. What's crazy about all those numbers is that he had a miserable month of April to start off that campaign. Through April 30th he was hitting .207 with an OPS of just .754. Some people were actually worried if his lingering toe injury was becoming more and more of a problem along with a slight oblique injury he picked up during Spring Training. It was all set up to be a down year for the big man. Once May hit, however, he went nuclear in terrifying fashion and really never stopped. The fact that he ended up with the numbers he did considering the lackluster April is insanity. But what if he got off to a fast start? Well, we're witnessing that…
Now before we dive into the numbers and what he's doing here, spare me the postseason commentary. We all know Judge's big monkey on his back is performing in October. While his career .768 OPS in October is fine for a normal player, that drop off from his regular season performances brings on a ton of criticism. Totally fair and until he comes through for a full October and wins a title it'll be something people get on him for. That does not mean you can't appreciate what he's doing in the regular season. What we're witnessing during this 3+ year stretch is one of the greatest peaks in baseball history. If you're here to just leave a comment about October then do it and be gone. Thanks for the click. If you wanna talk about one of the best hitters of our time, or any time for that matter, let's dive in…
It's May 1st and after 31 games Aaron Judge is batting .427. I repeat, his batting average is .427. I'm aware batting average is a stat that's gone away but when you're not supposed to pair a .427 batting average with a .761 slugging percentage over a lengthy stretch of time. A guy who is 6'7" is not supposed to hit .427.
It's honestly hard to describe what we're watching these days. Juan Soto left for the crosstown Mets and complained about the pitches he was getting to hit with his new club. Juan Soto is a great hitter and will eventually find his power, but he will never get the pitches to hit that he got hitting ahead of Judge in 2024. What's crazy is that Judge has virtually no protection in the lineup. No one the Yankees put above or below him will force an opposing pitcher to attack Judge instead. The only thing that force their hand is if the bases are full of traffic. Otherwise he'll get maybe one pitch an at bat if he's lucky to ambush. Pretty every time he's getting that pitch he's mashing it. There's virtually no way to attack this dude anymore.
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I've got one more fun stat to throw out there. Judge's .761 slugging percentage is higher than these players current OPS: Mookie Betts, Juan Soto, Trea Turner, Jose Altuve, Mike Trout, Yordan Alvarez, Julio Rodriguez, Gunnar Henderson, Bo Bichette. That is patently absurd. He has double the WAR of anyone else in the AL!
I don't know what version of this can continue. The fact that his average keeps going up in terrifying. All I know is that this shit has been going on for years now. He's been in this zone for YEARS and it's at a time where it's never been more difficult to hit a baseball. Only two things at this point can take the bat out of Judge's hands: 1) an injury 2) a walk. Just enjoy this shit while it lasts because we're witnessing one of the greatest hitters in the history of the game right before of our very eyes. Enjoy it.