Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
(Bill Kostroun/AP Images)

Aaron Judge is supremely confident his New York Yankees will put together the most prolific power-hitting season ever in 2019.

Aaron Case

New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge knows a thing or two about hitting long balls. That expertise adds credibility to his recent suggestion that the Bombers will live up to their nickname like never before.

After he and Brett Gardner each homered twice on Sunday, Judge told ESPN’s Coley Harvey to expect more of the same.

“You get this whole team healthy, we’re going to crush the record that we set last year. We’ve got a good team, a lot of guys that could make a lot of solid contact, and a lot of big boys that when they make contact, man, it goes. We’re a team that’s primed and ready to do that.”

Judge made his prediction in response to Gardner’s own declaration that the Yankees will top their 2018 mark of 267.

Last season’s squad set that new MLB milestone despite losing key sluggers for long stretches. New York only got 112 games from Judge and a mere 89 from Gary Sanchez.

There could also be a boost from Giancarlo Stanton. He should feel more comfortable in his second year against American League pitchers.

Stanton and Judge are Vegas favorites to lead their game in homers in 2019. If they were to match their previous career highs, they’d put up an insane 111 taters.

Another factor is a potential sophomore slump—or a big step forward—for Miguel Andujar and/or Gleyber Torres. The second- and third-place finishers in the 2018 Rookie of the Year voting combined for 51 homers in 2018.

New York has already mashed 16 home runs in nine spring training games. At that pace, they’d collect 288 round-trippers over a 162-game season, for what it’s worth.

The moral of this story is obvious: if you have outfield tickets for a Yankees game, don’t forget your glove.

[membership level="0"] [/membership]
Freelance editor and writer, and full-time Yankees fan. Originally from Monticello, NY, but now lives in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.