The 2021 All-Star Game in Denver, Colorado should include at least one New York Yankee: Aaron Judge. The Yankees’ giant is going up against the Angels’ Mike Trout, the Twins’ Byron Buxton, the Astros’ Michael Brantley, the Rangers’ Adolis Garcia, the Blue Jays’ Teoscar Hernandez, and Randal Grichuk, the Orioles’ Cedrick Mullins, and Alex Verdugo of the Red Sox. Those are all very talented outfielders, but looking at the stats, here is why Judge should be in the All-Star Game.
Making The Case: Offensively
Judge has these stats so far for the season: .285 batting average, 18 homeruns and 42 runs batted in. The two time All-Star has been the most consistent slugger for the team this season. He leads the Yankees in runs, home-runs, runs batted in, and total bases Judge is averaging one homerun every 15.2 at bats. Judge is having is best offensive season since 2017 when he finished second place in the Most Valuable Player voting.
He is also on his way to having an fWAR (Wins Above Replacement) season for the fourth time in the last five seasons. Lastly, Judge has a 142 wRC+ (Weighted Runs Created Plus) which means he creates 42 percent more runs than the average player would have with the same amount of plate appearances.
The 6’7 slugger has the second-most home runs and fourth-most runs batted in comparing to the outfielders he is going up against. Lastly, Judge has played in 75 out of the 80 games so far this season. He is hitting .285/.382/.522 and has a 13.4 percent walk rate and a career-low 26.4 percent strikeout rate.
Defensive Skills
Judge has been below average in the field this season according to the defensive metrics. He is in the 35 percentile on Outs Above Average and in the 21th percentile in Outfielder Jump.
Judge and Clint Frazier have a combined -7 Outs Above Average and are 105th and 119th out of 119th outfielders so far this season. Before the season, Judge told the reporters that he was going to play a little smarter and not harder in 2021. The two-time All-Star has covered three feet fewer on average compared to previous seasons and his success rate on fly balls is also down four percent less than the estimated success rate.
Although he is below average in the field this season, Judge deserves an All-Star nod this season!
Please vote for Aaron Judge as the link is VOTE: 2021 MLB All-Star Ballot | MLB.com.
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