Aaron Judge took MLB by storm, blasting 30 homers by the All-Star break and hitting well over .300. He dazzled the Miami crowd by destroying the competition in the 2017 Homer Run Derby and The Shadow League/FS1’s Rob Parker touted him as one of the Top 5 Homer Kings of all-time.
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Rob Parker’s Top 5 Sluggers of All Time…and yes, Aaron Judge is already on the list. https://t.co/pv1bTlcCXe
Conversation about Judge dominated the press boxes and water coolers as his Ruthian accomplishments, 6-foot-7 colossal frame and multi-ethnic appearance mesmerized the baseball community and conjured memories of Derek Jeter.
Then the realities of baseball settled in for the rookie, who went from unstoppable to downright feeble at the plate through most of the season’s second half and late August. The fare-weathered fans and fleeting social media moshpit were calling Judge everything from overrated, to a bust to terrible.
Thats how fast the tables turn on superstardom these days. They only love you when youre on top and when you fall, they dont just let you drop, they rub mud in your face as you lay on the ground and move on to the next meal of the moment.
And the sport of baseball has no friends. It is as relentless, unpredictable and challenging as it gets. The psychological toll baseball takes on players should also be noted. Going from great to garbage in a matter of months is common in a sport where constant tweaking and fine tuning is just part of the game.
Aaron Judge Comments On Recent Slump | SportsCenter | ESPN
Aaron Judge explains that he’s not concerned about his post All-Star break slump and is “trusting the process” in that everything will work itself out.
Those riding high fall off the cliff quickly in baseball. Not only did Aaron Judge break the franchise rookie home-run record by hitting his 30th homer in just 80 games knocking Joe DiMaggio from the record book but he also exploded the popularity of Statcast, even launching a homer that went an estimated 496 feet, the longest measurement of the season.
Some pessimistic folks suggested that the first half was a fluke and Judge would continue to strike out and sink into a zone of mediocrity. It didn’t exactly go down like that.
He made some adjustments, his stroke came back to him and hes been pounding the ball again. Tuesday’s bomb against Minnesota marked Judge’s 44th of the season, moving him within five of tying Mark McGwire’s 1987 total of 49 homers, which is the most ever by a player in his rookie season. The 25-year-old rocket launcher has 12 more games left to do it.
Judge leads the American League in homers and is doing to the AL what Giancarlo Stanton is doing to the NL. Both are the premiere power hitters in their respective leagues. With the success of the Yankees – who are now six games up on Minnesota for the AL Wild card and playing playoff-ready ball – Judge has also moves back into the MVP conversation.
Judge’s two homers lift Yanks to big win: 9/14/17
Daily Recap: Aaron Judge crushed a pair of three-run home runs to power the Yankees to a 13-5 victory over the Orioles Check out http://MLB.com/video for more! About MLB.com: Former Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig announced on January 19, 2000, that the 30 Major League Club owners voted unanimously to centralize all of Baseball’s Internet operations into an independent technology company.
Despite his 198 Ks, Judge also leads the AL slugging (.586), OPS (.999) walks with 114 and runs scored (118). His .276 batting average is very respectable for a power hitter of his ilk and this season has been a perfect example of how everything comes out in the wash and numbers pretty much hold true over a 162-game baseball season.
Judge teased everyone in the seasons first half , hitting 27 dingers through the first three months. His power outage had the city panicking for a stretch after the All-Star break, but he was on such a celebrity and ball-drilling high coming out of his historic show at Marlins Park on a beautiful July night in the summer that he was inevitably going to come down to earth.
The rookie has still recorded 14 HR’s over 205 second-half at-bats to reach his current total, and thats not shabby at all. The Yankees are surely thrilled that Judge’s coming down to earth is still galaxies better than most of the players in the sport.
