Aaron Judge’s hot start to the season that included six home runs in five games has captivated baseball. He’s been going off and it’s been similar to the 2017 start where people were shocked by Aaron Judge’s performance. People are asking if he’s the face of baseball or if he’s going to win the AL MVP. While yes, Judge is doing very well, people shouldn’t be shocked, because Aaron Judge has always been a superstar.
A Top 5 Player in Baseball
Ever since 2017, it’s very surprising how elite Aaron Judge is among his peers. Let’s look at how the New York Yankees’ star RF stacks up against the rest of the league:
| 2017-2019 | wRC+ | wOBA | OBP | SLG | fWAR | HR | UZR/150 |
| Aaron Judge | 3rd | 3rd | 4th | 4th | 6th | 8th | 3rd |
When you look at those stats, how can he not be a top-five player in baseball? The only two stats he’s not top-five in, are cumulative stats, and he’s still top-10 in those. Not only an Aaron Judge mash the baseball, but defensively he’s also a stud, as in UZR per 150 games, he ranked 3rd out of all position players. In OAA (Outs Above Average) Judge was first among right fielders despite OAA being a cumulative stat. The icing on the cake is that Aaron Judge is also pretty fast with a 28.2 feet per second sprint speed.
Aaron Judge has proven not only to be a superstar, but a top-five player, so why doesn’t he get that respect?
Aaron Judge and Injuries
Judge has an “injury problem”, that means he’s “not reliable”. To me, this is an absolutely asinine argument. Since 2017 Aaron Judge has played 369 games, which is an average of 123 games per season. Mike Trout has played 388 games since 2017, good for around 129 games. Is Mike Trout also “not reliable”? He’s a superstar, and if you think his “injury history” is a problem, then go take a hike.
His three injuries of note were a fastball at the rib, oblique issues, and breaking a rib on a diving play. The only one that gives me concern was the oblique issue, everything else is really just a freak accident.
MVP Season Will Establish Aaron Judge as a Superstar
I guess Aaron Judge will have to just casually win the MVP to show people that he’s a superstar. Not a big deal, he could do it with ease if he keeps crushing dingers and plays 55 games. I see Judge getting to a 160 wRC+ and a 3.0 fWAR by the end of the season if he stays hot. He’ll also be defensively great as usual, and be an absolute stud.
He’s going to remind you that when he walks onto the field, you all rise, because here comes the Judge.
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