Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is one of baseball’s top hitters this spring, but can he carry it over into the regular season?
In 2017, New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge started off his Rookie of the Year campaign with a huge spring training. That season he led the Yanks and the AL with 52 home runs
Currently, this spring, Judge is 10-30 with six home runs. On Friday, he hit a homer to right-center field when the Yanks defeated the defending champion Boston Red Sox by a score of 14-1.
He homered again on Saturday over the left field fence, leading the Yankees to a ten run win over the Toronto Blue Jays. It was not a normal homer, however, because the Blue Jays deployed a shift that you will see more often this season.
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It included only three infielders and four outfielders in an attempt to limit Judge from reaching on a hit down the line or in the gap. However, Judge will tell you that the easiest way to defeat that particular shift is not to hit the ball over the outfielders.
Last year Judge was sidelined with a fractured wrist after being hit by a pitch by Kansas City Royals pitcher Jake Junis. As a result, Yankees fans did not see the 50 home run season since his rookie season when he hit a league-leading 52 home runs.
I am sure he and the Yanks are very excited to witness his hot start even though his success may not be against the best pitching.
His hot start is also encouraging and is probable to continue into the season as his team opens up the season at home against a team projecting to lose over 100 games in the Baltimore Orioles. Then, they play a rebuilding Tigers club before they fly to Baltimore to play against the Orioles again.
Take a second to read this:
Only 5 of their first 30 games will be against playoff caliber teams (Red Sox and Astros). Then, in April they will play the Orioles 7 more times and will play the Royals and the Padres in consecutive series.
If you haven’t caught on yet that is a lot of wins in the first two months of the season. The Yankees will be playing rebuilding teams with subpar pitchers. Therefore, Aaron Judge has a very good chance of continuing his hot start and carrying his spring performance into the season.