Each year, the All-Star break gives us a chance to look back at player and team performances through the designated first half of the season. We can solidify whether teams are ‘for real’ or not and determine if certain players have lived up to expectations. Thus far, the Yankees are very much for real, though that […]
Tag: Aaron Judge
Bronx Beat Episode 151: Aaron Judge’s Strike Zone
EJ, Paul, and Derek discuss Gary Sanchez’s groin injury, EJ’s research on Aaron Judge’s strike zone, and whether the Yankees should use an Opener. EJ’s article on Aaron Judge’s strike zone on BP Bronx.
How Much is Aaron Judge Hurt by His Biased Strike Zone? Spoiler: A Ton, and it’s an Outrage
Aaron Judge sees more borderline pitches called as strikes than any batter in the major leagues. So far in 2018, Judge has seen 1,449 pitches in the lowest part of the zone or below the zone. According to Statcast, 7.9% of these pitches, 114 total, were called as strikes. The average MLB batter sees 2.9% of […]
Early Returns: Aaron Judge is Still Awesome
The Yankees have had a rough start to the season, with endless injuries, bullpen meltdowns, and slow starts from key players. And yet, I think the balance of news is actually good because Aaron Judge is still awesome. We all know the stats. Judge was a superstar in 2017: .284/.422/.627, .443 xwOBA, etc. Judge broke […]
Retiring the Side vs. Judge, Stanton, and Sanchez
On Opening Day, the Yankees formidable trio of right-handed sluggers—Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gary Sanchez—batted 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in the lineup. Combined, they went 6-14 with two mammoth blasts from Stanton, three doubles, and a walk. Quite simply, they performed exactly as expected. Judge had a pretty good day. Sanchez added just the […]
Aaron Judge Should Bat Second, Not Leadoff
Aaron Judge is batting leadoff today. The Yankees are calling it “an experiment.” I don’t get it. Aaron Judge should not bat leadoff. Here’s the case to bat him leadoff: Aaron Judge draws a ton of walks, creating a high OBP, creating RBI opportunities Aaron Judge kills baseballs, so lineup protection could force pitchers to […]
Giancarlo Stanton vs. Aaron Judge in Left Field
When spring training began, the expectation was that both Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton would see time in left field during Grapefruit League action. To date, we have only seen Stanton there in actual games. Given how the Yankees have played it this March, it’s pretty clear that Stanton is going to be the one […]
Evolution, Cortisone, and Aaron Judge’s Shoulder
Aaron Judge’s season thus far resembles a graph many of you embrace as mathematically inclined baseball nuts, the rest running away, scorning the advance of statistics in this great game. Our visual model is the cosine wave. Starting in the positives from square one, it dips below zero into the abyss, only to remerge and reach the […]
The Red Sox vs. Aaron Judge
Aaron Judge went 1 for 18 across four games versus the Boston Red Sox. No, it wasn’t because of the Home Run Derby. That explanation – to use one of many terrible workplace buzzwords – is low hanging fruit. We’ve seen writers like Devan Fink of SB Nation’s Beyond the Box Score break apart that myth, leading […]
Is Judge Breaking Projection Systems?
It’s not the awe-inspiring “breaking” we’ve seen from Miguel Sano as he snapped his bat like a twig in 2016. Or the much more humorous attempt at breaking that we’ve seen from the likes of Yasiel Puig, seeking, and failing to accomplish the same feat. This breaking is much more subtle, a metaphor for confusion that emerges when something […]