New York Yankees: The Legend of Aaron Judge Continues to Grow
Aaron Judge is seemingly capable of doing the impossible. This past weekend, the New York Yankees rookie slugger absolutely destroyed two baseballs in an effort that is starting to become legendary.
Every so often, there is a player who captures the imagination almost from the start of their major league career. In his first full season with the New York Yankees, Aaron Judge has become that player.
The slugging rookie has already garnered a tremendous amount of attention for his prodigious home runs, but he outdid even himself this past weekend. First, on Saturday, Judge crushed a first inning Chris Tillman fastball inside the left field foul pole for a home run. These days, Judge hitting a home run is about as routine as the sun rising, but it was the speed of which the ball left that bat that was noteworthy. He had the hardest hit ball of the Statcast era, measured at 121.9 MPH when it left the bat. In fact, Judge is the only player this season with any balls hit at over 119 MPH.
That feat, as talked about as it was, had a shelf life of approximately a day. Judge then erased that laser beam from our memory banks with another Herculean feat with the bat. He destroyed a Logan Verrett offering in the bottom of the sixth inning, launching the ball over the bleachers in center field. By the time the ball landed, it had traveled 495 feet, the longest home run in the past decade.
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Judge was not done with his incredible feats after that home run. At the end of the day, he was leading the American League with a .344 batting average, 21 homers, and 47 RBI. That’s right – the Yankees rookie sensation currently has a Triple Crown.
At some point, in theory, the madness will have to end. Pitchers will figure out a way to pitch to the rookie sensation, and he’ll begin to slow down. While Judge will still punish mistakes with tape measure home runs, it will not be with the same frequency. At least, that would be the case in theory.
Instead, we have not seen any signs that Judge is slowing down. Unlike Eric Thames, who caught everyone’s attention with his torrid April before tapering off, Judge has made those adjustments that he needed to. As he continues to develop and adjust, he has become one of the hottest players in the game.
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Aaron Judge has made the extraordinary seem routine. Chances are, by this point next week, the New York Yankees rookie slugger will have done something else to capture our imaginations.