Aaron After 62

 

Aaron Judge has been playing with expectations this year.

There was the week where we all thought the Giants would take the slugger in free agency, down to the league scheduling the Giants as the Yankees' opening competitors, and that unfortunate typo that made many fans think their hero was heading across the country. But ultimately Judge re-signed with the Yanks and we were safe. Then Judge had a back strain that kept him out for a week and a half. And everyone thought Judge's injury-prone tendencies would hit him again directly after his best season yet. But after Judge returned from the IL, he made up for his dormant time by bouncing right back and has had 17 hits, 18 RBIs and 7 home runs since his May 9th return.

Also, and more importantly, the Yankees have gone 9-3 since Judge's activation, and are 14-5 since Harrison Bader was activated from the IL. Something about having two of the team's best players who are absolutely on their game is helping this team.

It has to help that Judge is still very much in his prime, even at 31. He's hitting .299, has 32 RBIs and 13 homers, still excellent figures for the prospect of a full season run. What's even more important- Judge isn't striking out as much as he used to. Yes, he has 50 Ks, but that's not the most on this team, thanks to Anthony Volpe, who has 8 more. Judge hasn't broke 200 strikeouts since that huge 2018 season he had, and he seems to have gotten his K count under control as he's learned to hit more for contact as well as dropping bombs. 

The Yankees have improved mightily since their Judgeless, Baderless, 'what even is the point of this team anymore' run in late April. Getting Luis Severino back helped a ton, as we can rely less on Jhony Brito and, ugh, Domingo German. Ben Rortvedt is finally up and doing an excellent job of contact hitting, meaning the deal that brought IKF and Donaldson to New York is at least somewhat worthwhile. Even Greg Allen has been looking like a major improvement over Aaron Hicks, and joining in with the piecemeal-but-interesting quality of the outfield along with Jake Bauers and Willie Calhoun.

Having Judge back and surging is saving this team, and keeping them alive as the Rays and Orioles dominate the conversation. Now that they're heading into a series with the Orioles, they're gonna need to keep this momentum and stay hot. 

Coming Tomorrow- A contact-hitting infielder that's racked up a surprising amount of home runs this year.