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Look at our big baby boy go!
Another two homers last night to bring him to 12 on the season and taking his sole, rightful place atop the MLB leaderboard. 26 runs scored and 25 batted in, food for third and fifth respectively. Slashing an incredible .313/.424/.795. Fourth in the majors in OPS at 1.219, and leading every goddamn player in the world in WAR at 2.3. All while wielding a hell of a glove out in right for such a very extremely tremendously large human being.
*deep breath in*
Now look, he’s not perfect. 26 strikeouts in 99 plate appearances is a lot. And although he’s made large adult strides in that department–as he has after adjusting to every step up in his major league career–you’d still like to see that rate decrease.
And we’ve seen enough flash in the pan starts to know not to fly off the handle just yet. This is baseball. He’ll hit a few bumps in the road, see a few extended slumps, maybe hit a rookie wall. It’s hard not to be excited, but it’s still very early. I’m not going to start calling him Henry Aaron Judge just yet.
*hard exhale*
BUT GODDAMMIT HOW CAN I NOT BE EXCITED ABOUT THIS???
I mean… come on. Do you really believe any of that last paragraph at this point?
This is not a flash in the pan. This is not “give pitchers time to adjust” situation. This is not a few lucky swings of the bat.
Aaron Judge is not succeeding because he’s a giant smashing bad pitches with his eyes closed. Yes, of course his raw power matters. But what matters more is that he’s proven himself time and time and time again in his three and half years with the organization that he will work his ass off to make adjustments and fix his flaws at every level.
He’s earned this. He’s not some raw young talent just swinging for the fences. He’s a 25-year-old who fought through labels to become a real major league hitter who can take the reigning Cy Young winner oppo in Fenway Park. He’s getting real major league hits in between, of course, turning on bad pitches and send them five miles down Jerome Avenue. And it just so happens that he’s a mountain of a human with enough raw power to carry would-be opposite field doubles over the right field porch.
He worked his ass off to get here, and he’s shown enough already for us to feel confident in the fact that he’ll continue to work his ass off for the next dozen years in pinstripes. He gets it. He’s smart and measured and headstrong while simultaneously playing the game with a ton of joy. There Derek Jeter comparisons are obviously lofty and a lot to place on even the largest of adult shoulders. But Joe Girardi has been around this organization long enough to know that that comparison is NOT made lightly. We can see everything on the field from the big hits to the dives into the stands to constant air of poise and think “I’m staring to get the Jeter vibe”. Girardi sees everything else and felt confident enough to put that out there. That says everything you need to know.
Our large adult mountain of a son is here, and folks,,,,,,, he’s here to stay.
P.S. Any and all pictures of Judge and Torreyes will be funny from here to eternity. Almost choked on my drink when I saw this last night.
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