Aaron Judge of the Yankees is somehow better than ever

Aaron Judge has become too good for the MLB. That is how Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider interpreted the treatment of the New York Yankees batter over the weekend.

On Saturday, Schneider became the first manager in 52 years to intentionally walk a batter with the bases empty in the second inning. The next day, he became the first manager in 25 years to intentionally walk a Yankees batter three times, doing so once with a runner on first base and once with the bases empty again.

Judge is better than ever, an astonishing fact for someone who hit an AL-record 62 home runs two years ago and has trailed a string of cleanup hitters this season with a .217 batting average, the worst in Yankees history. His batting average (.322), OBP (.456), slugging (.701) and OPS+ (219) are all career highs.

In his last 18 games, Judge was on base 54 times: 27 times by walks, 25 times by hits and twice by pitches. The slash line in this run: .424/.614/.915. Schneider had clearly seen enough.

“I honestly didn’t feel like watching him swing,” the Toronto manager said after Saturday’s game. “We talk about being very cautious with him, and that can lead to mistakes when you’re trying to be really good. He’s in a different category than anyone else in the league.”

Judge is so good that his fans rarely see him swing the bat. On the weekend of the Toronto Series, 129,338 fans came to Yankee Stadium for three games. They saw Judge strike out just 16 times out of the 15 at-bats he faced. Those 16 at-bats still yielded five hits, including two home runs, on eight at-bats.

In 1972, Angels manager Del Rice walked Twins catcher Glenn Borgmann with two outs and the bases empty in the second inning. But the move was not out of fear of Borgmann, a rookie with a .211 batting average, but because the pitcher was behind him in the last season before the DH rule. Rice’s pitcher Rudy May struck out 16 batters that day, setting a franchise record.

Judge’s intentional walk on Saturday has no equal in modern technology. Not even Barry Bonds was given that much respect. On Sunday, Schneider intentionally walked Judge three times in a row: once when a runner was on first base, once when the bases were empty again, and once when runners were on second and third base. After the game, Yankees outfielder Juan Soto complained, “It just makes me mad” that teams don’t challenge Judge more, but added that he respects that they have to do whatever it takes to win the game.

Get used to it. Judge is the most feared hitter in baseball since Bonds. Managers won’t risk throwing to Judge in important situations. Pitchers no longer have holes in his swing that they can attack. (Hard two-seamers and off-speed pitches below the zone used to be weak spots for Judge, but he’s closed those holes.) And Judge, like Bonds after watching pitchers pitch around him time and time again, will make mistakes in the rare moments he can swing the bat.

Why did Judge reach a higher level this year? Here are some reasons and recognition.

Judge’s damage ratio is unmatched

Judge hits a home run every 20.5 at bats. That’s 26% more often than any of the other leading home run hitters:

Judge sees fewer pitches to hit

Judge’s hitting philosophy is based on forcing pitchers into the zone with fastballs. Without protection in the lineup, these throws (four-seamers and sinkers) have become much rarer:

Rate fastballs in the zone by month

What happens when pitchers throw Judge a rare fastball in the zone? He crushes it. He’s basically Steven Kwan with elite power:

Most hits on fastballs in the zone

The blow that turned his season

On May 5, Judge started batting in the first inning against Detroit Tigers star Tarik Skubal. His batting line in 35 games was a pathetic .209/.340/.403.

Something had to change. It started with his feet.

Judge had been batting with a wide-open stance since Opening Day, with his front foot much farther from the plate than his back foot. On May 5, he moved his front foot closer to the plate, giving him a more neutral stance. He promptly hit a 97 mph middle-down fastball from Skubal into the right-field seats for a home run.

In the two weeks since that swing, Judge gradually moved his front foot closer to the plate until the position of his feet was completely neutral on May 19.

Here’s what the transition looks like. From Opening Day (first picture from the left, below) to May 4 (second picture from the left), he hit with an open stance. Then you see the first at-bat against Skubal the next day (third picture from the left). Then, two weeks later, his feet are equidistant from the plate (first picture from the right). He’s been hitting from that stance ever since.

Since making this change, Judge has had one of the best 76 games of all time, reaching base more than 50% of the time and having a slugging average of over .800:

The .600/600 Club

With his home run on Saturday, Judge raised his career batting average to .600. He is only the 10th player in history to hit .600 in his first 946 games, joining Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Albert Pujols, Chuck Klein, Todd Helton and Joe DiMaggio.

The list becomes even more exclusive when you consider .600 sluggers with 600 walks in 946 games:

.600 SLG and 600 BB in 946 career games

The Judge and Mick

It would be blasphemy in baseball to compare anyone to Mickey Mantle. But not in this case.

Judge reached base 236 times in the Yankees’ first 113 games, or twice per team game. No Yankee had reached base in the same number of games since Mantle in 1957 (270 times).

The comparison goes beyond this year. After 946 career games, Judge and Mick are statistical doubles at the plate.

Through 946 games

Judge and Bob Beamon

Beamon set the world and Olympic long jump records in 1968 by such a large margin (21 ¾ inches) that his name is synonymous with an astonishing improvement on a record.

Judge has hit 298 home runs, the most in 946 games. The second most home runs in the same number of games is Ryan Howard with 268, meaning Judge has hit 11.2% more home runs than any other player in history to date. Beamon jumped 6.6% further than anyone else in 1968.

Most home runs in 946 games

He hits everything

Over the past two seasons, including his record-breaking home run year in 2022, Judge’s hitting power was partially neutralized by slow pitches. That’s over now.

Judge vs. Off-Speed ​​Pitches

*At least 1,500 parking spaces

So what do you throw at him? Choose your poison:

Judge by pitch type

Twice as good, twice as good

Judge’s OPS+ was 210 in 2022. This year it’s 219. If he keeps this up, he’ll be only the sixth player to have two or more qualifying seasons with an OPS+ of 210 or better, which essentially means he’s more than twice as good as the average hitter of his era.

Most qualified seasons with OPS+ of 210 or higher (at least 100 games)