Aaron Judge is absolutely ridiculous. After a slow start to begin the year, the Captain has skyrocketed himself back into MVP conversations with an unbelievable month of May.
Following Sunday night's matchup in San Diego, the two-time home run king is sporting an impressive .280/.413/.637 triple slash and 1.050 OPS. But how did we get here?
Through the first 35 games of the season, Judge was struggling to get hot at the dish, managing just a .179/.340/.403 line. His prodigious eye and the lack of good pitches to hit led to a surplus of walks, but his quality of contact dipped, as did his batting average. Despite this, Judge still clocked six homers and was on a 28 homer, 88 RBI pace with a .743 OPS, which is still well above league average.
The down Judge hit a breaking point, however, on a cloudy Saturday afternoon in the Bronx. The right-handed slugger was rung up on an outside fastball, and despite a very brief protest, earned his first career ejection from home plate umpire Ryan Blakney. Unbeknownst to the world, Blakney had awoken the sleeping giant.
In his first at-bat the following day, Judge socked a 400-foot home run, and the tear had officially begun.
In the 17 games since the ejection (not including 5/24), Judge owns a mind-boggling .429/.573/1.089 triple slash with nine home runs, 16 RBI, and 18 walks to 13 strikeouts.
|
Pre Ejection (5/04) |
Since Ejection (5/24) |
|
|---|---|---|
|
Games |
35 |
19 |
|
Average |
.179 |
.422 |
|
On-Base Percentage |
.340 |
.548 |
|
Slugging |
.403 |
1.109 |
|
OPS |
.743 |
1.657 |
|
BABIP |
.259 |
.421 |
|
Home Runs |
6 |
11 |
|
RBI |
19 |
20 |
|
Walks |
25 |
18 |
|
Strikeouts |
43 |
16 |
Through those 19 games, here's how Judge stacks up against the rest of the league: Home Runs (1), Runs (1), ISO (1), BABIP (4), AVG (1), OBP (1), SLG (1), wOBA (1), wRC+ (1), fWAR (1), Barrel% (1), Hard Hit% (1), EV (2), BB% (2), and RBI (3rd).
The Yankees are 15-4 since the ejection, and it seems Judge's success at the plate is infectious.
An historic display of power from Judge and ample support from Giancarlo Stanton and Juan Soto places the trio above SEVEN TEAMS in the home run column.
Anthony Volpe is in the midst of a 19-game hit streak — the longest of his career — and is the first Yankee since Joe DiMaggio to have a hit streak as long at 23 years old or younger.
After taking two of three from the Friars in dominant fashion, the Yankees head north to Anaheim to take on the Angels in a three-game set, and will conclude the road trip near Judge's hometown in northern California.
