Unless baseball fans have been living under a rock, you know that the MLB season has been mostly about the New York Yankees with their return to the “Bronx Bombers” era. The player in the spotlight leading the charge (and the majors) in home runs flying out of parks is MLBbro superstar Aaron Judge. With the production of Juan Soto, and fellow MLBbro Giancarlo Stanton, Judge is on an all-time historical run. Enough of a run that MLB now invited MLBbro.com’s fearless leader Rob Parker on their network to analyze Judge’s home run prowess…
But the Yankees are also counting on their superstar to help stabilize their defense in the outfield which has been an issue since outfielder Brett Gardner left with only the oft-injured Harrison Bader as his replacement leaving a serious void in left field.
In 2024, the Yankees are trying a formula of moving our MLBbro to center field while playing periodically in right. As of this writing the Yankees are riding with a lineup including Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Alex Verdugo. With Stanton and Trent Grisham chipping in, the defense will be an adventure for a team looking for a World Series championship this year. The caveat is most of these names are tearing the cover off the baseball.
The main reason that Aaron Judge will be okay no matter where the team puts him (center or right field) is that his mechanics and discipline is just as strong as his hitting. His positioning to field the ball to get to a quick throw is impeccable here as he throws out an opponent trying to stretch a single into a double.
Watch this perfect throw so the runner tags himself out…
To the fans that may be worried about our MLBbro’s defensive acumen in center field in September, MLBbro.com would advise them to relax. Judge has more experience than most realize.
- In 2022, Judge played 78 games in center back in the 2022 season in comparison to 73 in right.
- In Judge’s injury plagued season when he was injured with a broken toe making a play in right field, he still played 18 games in center field as opposed to 54 in right.
In both of these seasons, Aaron Judge performed better in center field than right in advanced stats metrics like defensive runs saved like this example here…
…and Statcast’s outs above average. Finally, our MLBbro has NEVER MADE AN ERROR in his career according to CBS Sports.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone plans to move Judge around the outfield at various times this season to cover the team’s needs. Judge will try to shoulder the responsibilities because that’s part of the DNA of franchise players. A situation much like the Los Angeles Dodgers are doing with Mookie Betts this season which MLBbro.com covered in detail…
But while the Dodgers were trying to AVOID Mookie Betts playing center field to avoid injuries, the Yanks aren’t as concerned. Despite the toe injury last season, most consider it a freak injury that happens from time to time, our MLBbro has been relatively healthy in recent years.
- He played 157 games in 2022 with the aforementioned games played in center.
- He played 148 in 2021 after rib (2020), wrist (2018) and oblique (2016, 2019) injuries slowed him prior.
With the combination of dominance at the plate (Yankees lead the majors in homers, slugging and other advanced stats) and on the mound (leaders in ERA) that has experts comparing this team to the 1927 World Series team, the average outfield play is more of a concern than a problem BUT…
The trade deadline is coming soon. Stay tuned.
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