David Wright, the former captain of the Mets, recently shared his thoughts on Aaron Judge taking up the captaincy of the New York Yankees.
Aaron Judge, who has been with the Yankees since 2016, has emerged as one of the most talented and respected players in the game today. He has twice been named an All-Star and has won a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger award. Moreover, he won his first AL-MVP award owing to his record-breaking season last year. Naturally, the Yankees wasted no time handing over the leadership reigns to Judge.
After a challenging off-season, the New York Yankees somehow managed to retain their star slugger, Aaron Judge. The 30-year-old signed a long-term nine-year contract for a whopping payroll of $360 million, the highest offered to a player of his position. Moreover, a day later, the Yanks top brass handed over the captaincy badge to Aaron Judge and named him the 16th captain of the franchise.
David Wright Weighs In On Aaron Judge’s Captaincy Skills
The New York Yankees, one of the most decorated sports franchises globally, had an empty captaincy chair. They have not had a captain since Derek Jeter’s retirement in 2014. However, this year, the 62 home run record holder, Aaron Judge, succeeded the former Yankees legend and took over the leadership role. Judge will be the 16th captain in the history of the franchise. Meanwhile, a former New York Mets captain, David Wright, has poured in his thoughts and reckoned that Judge is the perfect captaincy candidate.
The former Mets captain, in an interview with New York Post, said that Aaron Judge is the best baseball player currently. Moreover, David feels Judge as a player and as a person, represents the MLB in a good sense. Further, the former player referred to himself as a massive Judge fan despite not having met in person. David also feels that being a top guy in New York is not everyone’s cup of tea, and Judge achieving that showcases his genuineness. However, he did not fail to mention that the captaincy will bring in added pressure from outside because you will have to constantly prove your worth and do justice to the expensive contract.
Aaron Judge Leading From The Front
Meanwhile, Aaron Judge has already started adapting himself to the captaincy role even before the regular season commences. He arrived early for spring training and greeted the team’s newest young rookies as well as prospects. Further, the slugger monitored the team’s activities in the training sessions and helped the defense by donning a glove and running around the infield.
Further, Aaron Judge is planning to sacrifice his field position. Judge said he is considering moving to left field to end the team’s left field woes and also keep the injury-prone players safe in the right field. This move is huge for the slugger who hasn’t played left field since his rookie year in college. On top of that, the right field is his fortress which he has been guarding since 2017.
