Aaron Judge once again reigns supreme over the baseball world, earning the top spot in Week 10 of our #HighFive list, thanks to his current 32-game on base streak (that he shares with shortstop and teammate Anthony Volpe) and being named May’s American League Player of the Month.
1. Aaron Judge
On Wednesday night Aaron Judge extended his on-base streak to 31-games in emphatic fashion: not by way of his normal 400ft plus home runs, but with a bases clearing triple to help his Yankees win their 7th game in a row.
The current league leader in home runs, OPS and slugging percentage has hits in 12 of his last 13 games entering Thursday, and is slashing .417/.548/1.042 with four bombs, 15 RBI and two stolen bases in his last seven games
The highlight for Judge this week came last weekend when he returned to his hometown Bay Area to take on San Francisco.
A few offseasons ago, it was falsely reported that Judge would be signing with the Giants, so their fans welcomed him with a chorus of boos.
He responded in the best way possible, homering three times in the first two games and driving in six RBI for the series.
This weekend Judge’s Yankees will take on Mookie Betts and the Dodgers.
2. “Black” Jack Flaherty
Jack Flaherty pulled out his Ace card to shut the World Series Champion Texas Rangers down and earn the two spot on our #HighFive list.
He gave up little to no hard contact in his five shutout innings, surrendering just two hits, no walks and striking out four. Flaherty exited the game after just 60 pitches due to a stiff back, reportedly. He should be ready for his next start.
“It’s weird how it works out,” said Flaherty. ‘I got two extra days. I am not going for another week with two off days. We will see how I wake up tomorrow, but I feel good about it.”
If all goes well, that next start will be Tuesday against C.J. Abrams and the Washington Nationals.
3. Marcus “Stro Show” Stroman
Marcus Stroman capped off one of the best months of his career with another strong outing in a win over the San Francisco Giants.
Stroman went 7.1 last Friday night, allowing two runs on six hits. That lowered his ERA to 1.91 for the month and also brought his opponents’ batting average to .198. He finished May with a 3-1 record.
Stroman continues to be a reliable piece in a Yankees starting rotation that has the best ERA in the Majors. He has gone at least five innings in each of his 12 starts this year. He takes the mound Thursday night as his Yankees look to complete a sweep over the Minnesota Twins.
4. Marcus Semien
After missing his first game in 349 consecutive starts, Marcus Semien got right back to business this week, grinding out a six-game hitting streak and earning a spot on the #HighFive for the third time this year.
A few weeks ago, Semien collided with Adolis Garcia in the outfield. Garcia missed the next few games to recover but the Ironman mentality that Semien has carried with him throughout his career would not let him miss any time.
That is until his manager Bruch Bochy forced him to take a day off last week.
“It is not something I wanted to do at all,” Semien told MLBbro.com. “But we had an off day the next day. The rest had me feeling good and ready to go for the rest of the year.”
Since his return to the lineup, he is slashing .360/.484./.520 with six walks, three of which came in one game and one home run, which was the 28th leadoff Bro bomb of his career.
5. Corey Julks
Corey Julks is making the most of his opportunity in his first few weeks on the South Side of Chicago. He’s played 15 games since being picked up off waivers from the Astros.
Over that span he is hitting .320 with a .404 on base percentage and is currently riding an eight-game hitting streak he will look to continue Thursday night and over the weekend against the Red Sox.
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