IIRC Judge's slide began in a Red Sox series when Kimbrel exposed the fact that Judge can't get to the high fast ball.
IIRC Judge's slide began in a Red Sox series when Kimbrel exposed the fact that Judge can't get to the high fast ball.
It's a mere moment in a man's life between the All-Star game and the Old Timer's game.
-Vin Scully
Tells me more about the Yankees than Judge. They just beat the hottest team in baseball, without any contribution of their slugger.
Good point
I think they focused a lot on him (and Sanchez) and forgot about the rest (Didi, Gardner, Frazier, etc)
Judge is a fluke. Huge holes in his swing that have already been exposed. Nothing he has ever done, and no scouting report has ever indicated that he would ever be a 50HR hitter in the big leagues.
He was exposed quite a bit in the second half this year.....I expect him to hit around .250 with 25-30 HR this year. Those numbers may be generous. You don't go from 19HR in AAA to 52HR in MLB at the age of 25.
Fluke.
Yeah, I don’t believe that. You saw in the HR derby and basically all season that his power isn’t normal. He’s got more natural power than Giancarlo. He’s got the most natural power of anybody in baseball.
In the minors, he showed some inconsistency with the strike zone. He was never a contact hitter, but he was prone to chase away. In 2016, he was chasing sliders away and was essentially an easy out to anyone who could locate. Come 2017, he learned to lay off the slider away and pitchers had to come into the zone. He goes on a ridiculous pre ASB tear and heads into the HR derby on fire. He does his HR derby thing but somewhere around the ASB, he injured his shoulder. With the shoulder injury, he reverts to being pull happy and starts pulling off the outside pitches and worse, starts chasing the sliders down and away again. By the time mid August rolls around, he was an easy out for a month. He eventually gets benched to figure things out (really to get a cortisone injection) and comes out with a swing once again that elicits power center-right and he goes on a tear. He goes to the playoffs and the umps start expanding his zone and he slumps again. By the third ALCS game, the media starts picking up the umps low zone and he starts to hit again
He’s never going to be a contact hitter. But he’s a deadly power hitter with his best power to center and RF. His problem is when he slumps, he gets pull happy. When he does this, he nails out and pulls off the ball and becomes very susceptible to down and away breaking balls. It’s an adjustment for sure.
I think he ends up hitting for a better average than last year over time. He’s got a .300 hitters capability, especially as he stops getting a rookie strike zone and starts getting the zone afforded his size, maybe smaller. We shall see how the shoulder responds post surgery. They didn’t repair the cuff, just remove “loose bodies” which usually entails a smooth recovery. His production in 2018 is going to be an interesting storyline to follow for sure. Even with his month long slump from mid July to mid August, he still OPS’d .939 in the second half. He’s a monster
You don't make any sense.
I see him eventually being either Adam Dunn, Richie Sexson or Russell Branyan. All 3 had all world power. All 3 were giants. All 3 had huge strike zones. All 3 struck out a ton. I am not sure he is quite Adam Dunn, I think he will end up being most similar to Richie Sexson.
He’s not a contact hitter, but when he makes contact, it’s hard contact. I don’t think his K rate stays as ridiculously high as it is, although I never expect him to get under 150 K’s in a season. I do think he can hit .300 in a season just based on his exit velocity. When he was healthy and going well, he either struck out, walked or hit a ball hard. Also, once the umpires actually call his strike zone, we should see some drop in the strikeout rate too and he either can see more walks or a higher contact rate. Judge is different from Dunn as Judge has shown a significant proclivity to go the other way.
Also, Dunn never had a season like Judge. Judge hit for a higher average in his rookie season then Dunn ever did. His OBP would have set a career high for Dunn. His SLG would have been a career high. He bested Dunn’s HR high water mark by 6. Judge has 21 more runs scored and 7 more RBI than Dunn’s career high. For all the crap Judge got for his second half, his second half OPS would have been Dunn’s fourth best season by OPS. Judge is a far better fielder and base runner as well. Oh, and he did all this as a rookie!
When Ellsbury had his fluke 2011, not many people thought he could keep it up. With Judge, it does remain to be seen, but seems much more likely that he's not going to fall off a cliff when he gets to hit routine popup hr's at Yankee Stadium v2 for 81 games a year. He'll need a serious injury to really impact his career that much.
Ellsbury vs Judge? Really? Now you guys are reachijg big time.
The most natural power of anybody in baseball??? He is one of the biggest guys I guess and certainly has a lot of natural power but how are you going prove that one statistically speaking. Sounds like your opinion to me. I might agree with you but I might not. Seems like there is likely someone out there who is at least as strong if not stronger. I appreciate a loyal fan though but you of all people should know that if you can't quantify it it likely won't be believed.