Aaron Judge and Mookie Betts Bring MLBbro Influence That Dominates MLB MVP Races 

Aaron Judge and Mookie Betts Bring MLBbro Influence That Dominates MLB MVP Races 

by | Sep 28, 2022 | THE LEAD OFF

MLBbro.com is a website that celebrates the great black and brown baseball players in the Major Leagues. Even though the staff knew that there was supreme talent that was overlooked, even we couldn’t have foreseen two MLBbros in Aaron Judge and Mookie Betts not only being superstars for their respective teams but dominating their leagues as well.

These two players are setting historical landmarks this season and could possibly be the first African American tandem to each bag MVP awards from both leagues this season. But while the Shohei Ohtani argument only shows the statistical side of the story and is fueled by the novelty of him being a two-way player, the real MVP is the best player in all aspects. 

Just look at the overall impact that both Aaron Judge and Mookie Betts have on postseason bound teams going into October. As covered by MLBbro.com’s Kevin Moore, they rank first and second, respectively, in runs scored. 

 

Aaron Judge And Mookie Betts Are 1 & 2 In Runs Scored | These MLBbros Get On Base, Cross The Plate

 

But with all the similarities of how dominant these two MLBbros are in their leagues, their differences are a very interesting study.

Aaron Judge (New York Yankees): Potential AL MVP 

This MLBbro MVP has the world paying attention to every at bat these days as he tries to match both the American League and Yankees franchise home run record held by Roger Maris.

 

 

Since this bomb to tie Babe Ruth, Judge has lost his rhythm a little bit. Much of the problem is that teams have now taken to walking him intentionally while Aaron is starting to get under the ball slightly which could be from trying too hard. He is now batting .278 (5-18) with three doubles, eight walks and eight strikeouts.

In the recent 3-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night, Judge went 1-3 with two walks (including an intentional walk to load the bases in the 10th inning). Now our MLBbro’s homerless streak has extended to 25 plate appearances, his second longest streak this season behind the 41 plate appearances in August.   

But despite the slowdown in his nuclear production, he is still in rare air in the American League all-time single season home run rankings.

Roger Maris, New York Yankees (1961): 61

Aaron Judge, New York Yankees (2022): 60 with eight games left as of this writing.

Babe Ruth, New York Yankees (1927): 60

Hank Greenberg, Detroit Tigers (1938): 58

Jimmie Foxx, Oakland Athletics (1932): 58

But what makes Aaron Judge a potential lock for MVP is his pursuit of the AL Triple Crown this season. With his complete dominance with his home run and RBI numbers, only the batting average race between our MLBbro and Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts is being watched at this point. Going into the Yankees game against the Blue Jays on Tuesday, Judge is on top with a .314 average.

But while everyone (MLBbro.com included) marvels and watches Judge’s exploits with the baseball bat, we all can forget that this guy may be in the running for a Gold Glove as well. He is athletic in the field at 6’7 and it’s not the greatest idea to test that cannon of an arm he has.

 

 

Mookie Betts (Los Angeles Dodgers): Potential NL MVP

While Aaron Judge is overshadowing baseball with his storyline stealing power, Mookie Betts is dominating the National League as the best player on the best team in Major League Baseball. Betts is staking his claim as being the best skilled player and leader in all of baseball. A recent illustration of that fact was in last week’s Dodgers win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Despite the fact Mookie was held out of the starting lineup, he still made an impact as a pinch hitter by delivering a walk-off single to win 3-2. That added to Los Angeles’ total of 45 come from behind wins. It just adds to the options that the Dodgers have at their disposal of using Betts as an offensive weapon. Even when the team is resting him for the postseason with the NL West wrapped up, our MLBbro is still engaged. It was the first walk-off hit for Betts since joining the Dodgers.

He shared his thoughts after the game via MLB.com.

“It’s cool,” Betts said. “Actually, I think that might be one of my first pinch-hit hits, so that part was pretty cool in itself. But we got a win and that’s all that really matters.”

But Mookie’s accomplishments should stand next to his MLBbro counterpart in the American League as well. Recently he made franchise history by becoming the first player since Duke Snider in 1954 to hit 35 home runs and 35 doubles in a season.

 

But what makes Betts a MVP candidate is how he has affected his team in a positive way. His ability to move to second base has allowed Trayce Thompson to become a factor in the lineup. A move that was just a stopgap for Betts’ injury has become one of the most underrated signings in MLB baseball this season.

Not only did this diamond in the rough finding allow Betts to prepare for the postseason, but the Dodgers didn’t overspend or make any unnecessary trades at the deadline like their NL West rivals, the San Diego Padres. The financial flexibility for the future is tied to Mookie Betts and his all-around play.

By the way, he can play right field pretty good too…

 

These MLBbros Look Destined To Accumulate Some Hardware This Year | Awards On Deck

 

An MLBbro.com Breakdown In the AL MVP Race Between Aaron Judge and Yordan Alvarez

An MLBbro.com Breakdown In the AL MVP Race Between Aaron Judge and Yordan Alvarez

by | Jul 9, 2022 | 6TH SLOT, THE LEAD OFF

It’s hard to believe that the All-Star game is getting closer and closer with some of the best
individual performances from multiple players dominating the headlines. But it seems the
MLBbros will be well represented this year with their outstanding starts in the first half of the
season.

But after the Summer Classic is over, the conversation will definitely go to who is going to win the
AL MVP award while teams are making their runs for the postseason. But while reigning MVP
Shohei Ohtani’s play will command votes for a back to back reign, two MLBbros are battling to
compete against the Los Angeles Angels superstar. Those two are Aaron Judge of the New
York Yankees and Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros.

It’s hard to miss the accomplishments of Aaron Judge due to the fact that he is thriving this
season while embroiled in contentious negotiations with the Yankees that led to a $19
million deal that only quiets things down to the end of this season. With that storyline out of the
way, it opens up the spotlight to things shown in this highlight video here.

But these are just 20 of the homers that our MLBbro put in the seats. As of this writing, Judge is
up to 30 dingers that currently lead the majors along with RBI at 64. Throw in the fact that he
had 39 in all of 2021 which is considered by experts as being a down year, this MLBbro is
perceived as the best power hitter in baseball. But despite his outstanding season, media pundits
sometimes take the storyline over the overall production of said player.

Judge has the opportunity for a comeback story if he can match or surpass the 52 home runs he hit in
2017. Since that, he hasn’t reached that number, but piling up huge numbers playing for the franchise with the biggest media market in the country could land him a lot of votes. The narrative of betting on himself will play a part at the end whether it’s fair or not.

But this is not to say that Aaron Judge is not deserving. Along with his home run barrage, he has made the adjustments needed to cut down on the strike outs that plagued him the past few seasons. His slashes of .287/.366/.627 with an OPS of .993 makes him the most feared and well known power hitter in baseball.

But he is not the only dominant power hitter in the majors. MLB.com would like to introduce
another player into the MVP conversation…Yordan Alvarez.

Yes, baseball fans THIS MLBbro currently is at the top of the baseball world as the hottest hitter
in the game. At this point, the guy with the nickname “Air Yordan” is slashing at a .312/.410/.665
rate and is closing on Judge’s HR lead with 26 after yet another blast a few days ago against
the Kansas City Royals.

Right now, Alvarez is on pace to have the best season of his career and join an
exclusive club of players who have hit 45 home runs while batting over .300 with an on base
percentage of over .400 since 2005 according to The Analyst.

While Judge has worked hard to improve on his discipline at the plate, Alvarez has almost
cleaned up his mistakes to the point that he almost has no weaknesses. After fanning 145 times
to only 50 walks last season, his patience has brought him as many walks (42) as strikeouts
(53).

His constant hitting improvements at the plate have brought comparisons to Hall of Famer, “Big
Papi” David Ortiz. Both are left-handed power hitters with precision for making
contact to all areas of the field. At the end of the season, whomever takes the AL MVP award will come down to advanced statistics or the media storyline because both players are dominating at a high level. While Judge is box office material with his power, Alvarez is an analytics dream.

If Yordan overtakes Judge as MVP for his offensive exploits and if both players stay at this level, it
will come down their RAW value.

RAW value is the analysis of the outcomes of pitches as opposed to overall at-bats. The
rankings are based on the discipline of laying off pitches out of the strike zone and hitting
available strikes. Yordan is performing better than Judge in the three phases of overall
hitting: the discipline to read strikes, making consistent contact and the impact of the hit that
influences the game. Alvarez is outperforming Judge here as well between the power hitters.

What does all of this mean? It means that the AL MVP award will be in the MLBbro camp no
matter what if these two MLBbros continue at the rate they are going. At this point, both are
unstoppable at the plate. Maybe one will definitely get next year’s MLBbro.com’s Player of the Year Award like recent winner Marcus Semien.