CttP Podcast: Aaron Judge struggles, Giancarlo Stanton asterisks, D-Backs threats

Welcome to the eighth episode of the Call to the Pen flagship podcast! New episodes Monday and Wednesday. Today Jon discusses the pointlessness of asterisks in baseball, specifically concerning Giancarlo Stanton, as well as the struggles of Aaron Judge since the All-Star break, and early favorites for sustained postseason success.

Host and FanSided contributor Jonathan Platek today discusses and breaks down the recent struggles of Yankees slugger Aaron Judge. Being beyond the point of a fluke over a handful of games, it is time to break down and decipher just what is causing or enabling the young star’s struggles at the plate, as his power output has finally dipped beyond what can be considered acceptable.

Jon also discusses the use of and call for asterisks any time a player supposedly unaided by performance enhancers (not necessarily of the drug kind) makes a run at history. This time, the crosshairs are set on

, the first “clean” hitter—as many would say—to make a run at a season had by the likes of

,

and

.

Here’s what is going on in today’s episode:

• 0:00—08:10: Intro and Scoreboard. Jon gives you the scores and highlights of yesterday’s action in MLB.
• 08:11—16:00: Jon discusses the surge by Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton and his race for history. Jon asks why people need to constantly call for the use of asterisks to denote seasons or accomplishments aided by performance enhancers. Performance enhancers come in many forms, and if one is to be singled out and derided, shouldn’t they all be?
• 16:01—37:00: Jon breaks down the recent struggles of Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge. First Jon highlights just how poorly Judge has been performing both since the last episode featuring the segment Judge’s Chamber, as well as since the All-Star break. Jon then highlights an unusual approach by MLB pitchers to Judge since that All-Star break, as well as a tactic by MLB umpires that may be enabling the league to get away with more against Judge than other players in the league. What could fix Judge’s struggles? Is it a simple adjustment?

Next: Podcast: Ichiro not a HOFer?

• 37:01—Close: What’s hot and happening on Call to the Pen:
  • Contributor Mark Brown has a column discussing and highlighting the recent dominance of Diamondbacks starter Patrick Corbin. Jon takes the discussion a bit further, pointing out Corbin’s performance relative to the league since the ASB, and pointing out that the D-Backs have one of the best rotations in all of baseball heading into the last month of the season, and are sure to be a postseason threat.