New York Yankees RF Aaron Judge has not only gotten off to a hot start in 2018, but he’s rewritten the MLB record books in the process.
Aaron Judge, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year, has picked up right where he left off for the New York Yankees through the first two weeks of the 2018 season.
Judge had the rookie season of a lifetime, hitting 52 home runs with 114 RBI while still batting a respectable .284. Now, Judge is proving to everyone that his rookie season was not a fluke and he is a force to be reckoned with in his second full MLB season.
He got off to a slow start, going 2-for-12 against Toronto with four strikeouts, no home runs and no RBI. Not the best start in the world but hey, that’s baseball. It takes a few games to get your timing down in games that actually matter.
Even though it was only three games, March didn’t treat Judge very well. April, on the other hand, has been a different story.
Since April 1, Judge has recorded a .390 batting avg, hitting four dingers and driving in nine runs. To go along with that, Judge has recorded a hit in every game he has played in April, putting himself on a healthy 12-game hitting streak.
Just wait. It gets even crazier.
According to ESPN, Judge ranks in the top 10 in almost every offensive category for AL hitters.
- Fourth in BA at .351
- Seventh in HR with four
- Third in runs scored with 15
- First in walks with 13
- Seventh in stolen bases with two
- Fourth in Slugging percentage at .614
- Second in OPS at 1.093
Just like every baseball player out there, Judge knows he will cool off at some point. That’s the way baseball works. It’s a game of failure.
However, if Judge sticks to his game and his mindset, then he believes he will be consistent throughout the whole year, and the numbers will be there come October.
“The biggest thing with me is I stick to my approach,” Judge told Mike Mazzeo of the New York Daily News. “And if I stick with that, the numbers will be there in the end.”
Judge also made his way into the history books on Monday night against the Marlins.
Aaron Judge has just hit his fourth homer of the season. It's the 60th of his career. He's now the fastest to hit 60 homers. He did it in 197 games. Mark McGwire was the fastest to 60, did it in 202 games.
— Coley Harvey (@ColeyHarvey) April 16, 2018
Aaron Judge is a physical specimen. His 6-foot-7 stature, his raw power, and his cannon for an arm make him one of the best players in baseball. The 25-year-old from Linden, California is making a name for himself early in his career and it doesn’t look like he is in any mood to stop.
