At 29-13, the New York Yankees own the best record in baseball, and it’s even after losing their last three games. The Yankees scored a run in a doubleheader sweep against the Chicago Sox on Sunday. It’s the first time I’ve won a doubleheader only once since September 2014, and the first time I’ve scored at home since August 1991.
The Yankees scored five runs in three consecutive losses, all five of which played in Aaron Judge’s home runs. He took ChiSox setupman Kendall Graveman on Sunday and won the Baltimore Orioles Jordan Lyles twice on Monday. The judge led the MLB with 17 home runs (12 or less), and overall, playing plenty of center fielders (13 starts) in addition to the right (21 starts) .325 / .398 / .715. I’m hitting.
“Sometimes I take him for granted, but now it’s not. He’s really carrying us aggressively,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone. New York post Following the efforts of two homers of the judge on Monday.
Judged a little unexpected before the season Refused to extend $ 213.5 million for 7 years It would have taken him to 2029, his 37-year-old season. It was certainly not an unreasonable offer, but the judge decided it was too light, so he is betting on himself and playing the season. And so far, it couldn’t be better for him. He was great.
The Judges who refused to extend were in a difficult position as the Yankees were helping to improve the Judge’s performance, so they helped win the World Series, knowing that the Judge’s performance was excellent. increase.After all, these are the Yankees, they can pay anything, but no one likes to see the price go up, and the judge’s price teeth Go up.
There are three ways the judge has increased his value to the Yankees-thus increasing his income potential as he approaches the free agent-early this season.
1. Increased value of power
Several reasons (dead baseball, universal humidor, etc.)It’s harder to hit a home run now than in the last few years. You won’t know that when you see a judge who leads the majors with 17 home runs and has gone 16 times in the last 27 games. But overall, Rob Manfred & Co. As intended, the league-wide home run rate has dropped significantly in 2022.
If a home run is less likely to be hit, the value of the home run is much higher. The ability of a judge to hit baseball hard is almost unmatched in today’s games. He’s not a product of the friendly range of Yankee Stadium-the judge’s home run averages 409 feet this year (MLB averages 399 feet) -a product he constantly hits his beloved junk from the ball.
The contact quality leaderboards since the first day of 2021 are: (minimum 400 hits):
Notice how some Yankees appear on those leaderboards (drop on a minimum of 300 hits and Joey Gallo will pop up there as well). That’s because it relies heavily on exit speed and hard hit capabilities as an evaluation tool. If the judge was with another team and was going to be a free agent this winter, the Yankees would have the potential to sign him.
Judges are not one-trick ponies. Since the rookie season, he has been ranked 17th among all batters in batting average, 4th in on-base percentage and 3rd among outfielders in defensive defense. He is a complete all-round player. But power is his calling card. Home runs are the only best thing a batter can do at bat, and no one in baseball can hit a home run as well as a current judge.
We don’t know how baseball is played every season, sometimes every month. It makes the undeniable power, the power to play any type of baseball or any park, much more valuable, and the judge has it. He always had it and showed that he could succeed in several different baseballs in his career. It makes a pretty safe bet to move him forward. The team, like any other team, does not have to worry about a dead ball robbing his work.
2. Decrease in strikeouts
The judge was a big guy with a long lever and always hit, shook, and missed a bunch. Strikeout is a trade-off with power. That said, the judge has significantly reduced strikeouts and swing strike rates over the past few seasons, so his 11.1 percent swing strike rate since the first day of 2021 has been higher than the MLB average (11.2 percent) (technically! ) It is low.
This is the judge’s strikeout rate for many years. The graph is worth a thousand words:
FanGraphs
In his career, judges will not swing and make mistakes as often as they do now. When the judges come in contact, they hit the ball so hard that good things tend to happen. The question was always whether he had enough contact for his natural power to play consistently in the game. He is doing so more than ever. There are few holes that can be exploited in his swing.
The story of the judge’s career-this dates back to his time in Fresno, through all minors-has been promoted to a new level, through a period of adjustment, and dominating. He had a lot of trouble with his 2016 debut before the historic rookie season in 2017, but now he has a long runway to keep up with MLB pitching. The result is the lowest strikeout rate in his career.
3. How about your injury?
Judges have a long history of injury, even before they broke out as an MLB star in 2017. It is easiest to list the injured by year.
- 2016: After being called by MLB on the 24th due to a knee sprain in Triple A, he missed the 19th due to diagonal tension.
- 2017: In the second half, he overcame shoulder problems and underwent surgery after the season.
- 2018: After being hit on the pitch, he broke his wrist and missed 49 days.
- 2019: 2019: I missed 61 days due to diagonal tension. He also defeated the ball’s rib diving in September, but played in the postseason.
- 2020: Calf tension missed a total of 30 days (two injured list stints).
It’s a terrible injury. Judges played only 242 of the 382 possible regular season games of 2018-20, or 63%. He would have missed the start of 2020 with a rib fracture if the season had started on time (the judges hadn’t played in earlier spring training games). A pandemic that shuts down sports in March).
Two things about this. For one, some of those injuries are fluffy baseball play. Did your wrist break due to a hit by pitch? Broken rib diving for the ball? The 2017 shoulder injury was also the result of hitting a wall and catching it. This can happen to any player at any time. It always happens and not everyone gets hurt, but many players get hurt.
And second, look at how the injury list will stop in 2020. The judge stayed healthy and played 148 games in 2021 (spent 10 days on the COVID list) and started 39 of the 42 Yankees games in 2022. MVP caliber performer for the last two seasons. This is the latest and most relevant data. A healthy and dominant player.
The Yankees have also quietly become one of the best games to prevent injuries. They sent a record 30 different players to the injured list in 2019 (average of 5 per month!) And that led to an overhaul of the organization during the off-season. Industry leader Eric Cressy has been hired to oversee the health and training staff of the organization and the results are currently being shown.
The Yankees have only had two players on the Major League Baseball injured list since the opening day (COVID list not included): Tim, the fourth outfielder injured by stealing a second shoulder slip. Locastro and Setupman Chad Green, Who will have Tommy John surgery.. Damage to the soft tissues of the lower body (muscle rupture, calf, etc.) that prevented the Yankees before 2021 has been significantly reduced.
The judge turned 30 last month and players are usually less healthy in their 30s than in their 20s, but a) training methods are better than ever, and b) the Yankees already say they are comfortable signing. Increasingly judge in his thirties with their offer to extend. They know the medical care of judges better than anyone. They weigh the risks and are prepared to pay him a lot until he is 37 years old.
So what is the value of a judge to the Yankees?
Whatever it is, it’s more than his performance in the field. The judge’s value to the Yankees transcends his play on the field because he is their best and most marketable player. He puts his hips in his seat, sells merchandise, and raises the bar for television. The Yankees are willing to pay the judge what they are willing to pay him because he expects him to generate more income. This is both a baseball decision and a business decision. Losing a judge, it’s a lot of lost income.
Of course, this is a two-way road. Judges make a lot of money for the Yankees, and being a Yankee helps judges make a lot of money through endorsements. He has more endorsement deals than any other MLB player. In honor of all the other teams out there, being a famous Yankee is better than being more famous than anything else. This relationship is mutually beneficial.
There is also: The judge has proved that he can thrive in New York. Taking a player to a new environment always involves some uncertainty. New York is the largest market for games, so the uncertainty is even greater. It doesn’t blend in with the background, it just starts your business. Successes and failures in New York are getting more and more attention, and judges have treated them all like anyone else. For the Yankees, that certainty is worth it.
The Yankees were willing to pay judges $ 30.5 million annually until the age of 37. By the age of 38, they have paid Gerrit Cole $ 36 million. I wouldn’t be shocked if the judge tried to be the top player on the team. “Pay me a lot of money as long as you pay the man,” I don’t think it’s impossible. In particular, the judge was not given what he did last year, and what he was doing this year, and also gave the franchise his off-field value.
There are still many seasons to play, and what the judge does over the next five months will play a bigger role in free agent contracts than in the last two months. The judge made an unprecedented bet by declining the seven-year extension. So far, he has done everything he can to increase his value. He is doing nothing but making more money than ever before.
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