New York Yankees’ slugger Aaron Judge has not shown that same raw pop that he has recently compared to his last two seasons. Considering he had missed about two months with an oblique strain, the young star has 11 home runs this season and is batting .284 currently (Baseball Reference).
Judge had not hit a home run since July 19 (59 at-bats), before last night’s dinger against Price. Prior to this drought, the longest Judge had gone without parking one was seven games – the beginning of the season.
Judge’s struggles
There have been many rumors that Judge is dealing with the same oblique injury that had sustained earlier this season. However, I don’t believe Judge’s is playing through an injury. I think the answer is much simpler – teams are figuring out his weaknesses and are pitching him differently.
Judge’s 2017 breakout rookie year where mashed 52 home runs was nothing short of unbelievable. Nobody knew of him prior to that year and teams just pitched to him as he was any other rookie. Now, teams know his potential and throw him differently.
Take a look at this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssTf3_h0l1s
Even though this video is from 2017, it still shows Judge’s weaknesses. Majority of the strikeouts shown are spinners down and away or an elevated fastball on the outside corner. It is clear that he has trouble covering the outside spot, and tends to chase a slider down and away consistently.
Judge’s struggles do not concern me. He is the kind of player to go through his hot streaks and cold streaks. Yankee fans saw this during his first two seasons and as he grows as a player he will become even better. I mean, the guy did mash 52 home runs his rookie season…