Captain Aaron Judge, the MVP, the male athlete of the year, and the home runner record-breaker. And with whatnot, it was tagged last year. But sadly, things appeared to mark an end with the end of the 2022 season. This year when the Yankees struggle with the injured players to win games, Judge, too, struggles to win his fan’s hearts. Statistically, comparing the last year’s performance to this year’s, Aaron Judge will not break records again. At the exact same time, he was at HR 10 in 2022, while in 2023, he only made 6 HRs. His OPS has decreased by more than 100 points as compared to last year’s. However, the interesting thing is that his low start to the 2023 season is a matter of concern for fans but not for Aaron Judge himself.
Aaron Judge believes that comparing stats to last year is nothing but a waste of time. “I’d be spinning in circles” by doing so!! He said of Friday. After the Yankees lost the Friday game to the Rays, he finally confronted his fears, which is not to lose a chance to make this season historical but to get deprived of giving everything he could. As quoted by the New York Post, Judge said, ” Every year is different. Sometimes, you get to start a season hot, which gets cool off in the middle, And other times you start the season slowly, but you deal with that by the end.” What matters at the end of the year is what numbers you get.
The Numbers Are Not What It Should Be, But Aaron Judge Will Progress
Aaron Judge remained a firm believer in the fact that one needs to make sure he is putting in the work. Worrying about the stats lets you dip and slide. However, there are other aspects to check on Judge that have increased Yankees. Have you seen his strikeout rate yet? It has spiked from 25.1 % in 2022 to 31% in 2023. Given this, the Bombers’ hitting coach says, “Looking at the numbers, we realize that it is not where we wanted it to be.”
The concern increases when Aaron Judge makes good pitching, but on the other hand, he misses more pitches where he used to hit. However, Dillon is aware of this, and he is making sure Judge makes progress through it. However, he is only less when compared to himself! Because despite this OPS dipping, he still has the highest OPS of .848 in the Yankees. Currently, Judge is tied with Anthony Rizzo with an OPS plus of 135. The Yankees captain arguably has the strongest metrics. And the best part is that his average exit velocity and hard-hit rate that paved the way to his historical end of the 2022 season are still the same this year.
Believing in what Judge said, “Sometimes you start low but deal with it,” we can expect a good result from the 31 years old Yankee in the middle or by the end. And Brent Rooker from Oakland is already proving that it can happen. He is currently leading the 2023 OPS with 1.072 while starting the season low.