Aaron Judge is on track to have one of the best offensive seasons in Major League history.
His two-homer game Wednesday highlighted another week where he finished with a batting average above .400, earning him his regular place atop our #HighFive list for Week 20.
1. Aaron Judge
With offense down across the Majors, what Aaron Judge is doing at the plate in 2024 is much more special than I think most people realize.
Consider this: Judge entered Thursday leading the Majors in home runs, RBI, OBP, slugging percentage, extra base hits and total bases while sitting second in batting average and walks.
Comparing his numbers now to his record-breaking 2022 season through 127 games, he has driven in more runs and has a higher in average, slugging percentage and OPS while sitting just two home runs off his pace.
Judge homered three times in the first two games of the Yankees series against the Guardians, including two on Wednesday night to raise his league leading total to 47.
The “dog days” of August do not seem to be slowing him down as this has been the best month of what will likely be his second career MVP season.
With a little over a week to go this month, he is slashing .450/.577/.933 with eight home runs, 18 RBI and 17 walks (eight of them being intentional.
2. Simeon Woods Richardson
Simeon Woods Richardson makes our #HighFive list for a second straight week thanks to two quality starts that led to two Twin wins.
Friday, in his home state of Texas against the Rangers he threw five innings and allowed just two runs on three hits.
Then on Wednesday, in hostile territory against a playoff hopeful San Diego Padre team, he went five innings allowing only one run on four hits and added seven strikeouts.
Woods Richardson continues to stack good starts together in what has been somewhat of a surprising rookie year.
That makes two solid starts in a row for Stroman, who struggled to end July and to begin August.
On Sunday he went six shutout innings, giving up just four hits and striking out five.
This after allowing just one run in five innings against the Rangers in his previous start.
Stroman also shined off the field last week when he awarded two $25,000 scholarships to two New York area college freshmen for his HDMH Foundation.
Although no date has been set, he should be slated to start against the Rockies in Yankee Stadium this weekend.
4. James Wood
With each passing week, James Wood gets more comfortable at the Major League level, leaving me to believe that by next season, he will find himself in the conversation for the best outfielders in the National League.
In his last seven games he is slashing .409/.500/.636 with four RBI, a home run and a stolen base.
Woods had his fourth career three-hit game on Wednesday and has hit baseballs harder than most of the Majors since he was called up.
At the young age of 21 he is fifth in the league in average exit velocity, trailing only Aaron Judge, Ohtani, Juan Soto and O’Neil Cruz
That’s the question Washington Nationals brass are asking themselves regarding one of the most talented young MLBbros waiting to crack the show, centerfielder James Woods.
It began during spring training, where the 6’7, 234-pound Woods posted a 1.214 OPS in 22-games before being told he hadn’t done enough to break camp with a spot on the Big League roster.
Now in Triple-A, the Nationals second-ranked prospect has continued to what he can to force their hand. James is destroying Triple-A pitching, batting .370 with 17 hits, and 14 runs, with an OPS of 1.130 in 12 games.
Why Is James Wood Still In Minor Leagues?
Woods looks ready to make the leap, but the Nationals don’t seem too eager to start the clock on his big-league service time. For Woods, the wait may be over soon, but the timeline has hints of service time manipulation. Despite the new rules adopted that reward players who finish in the top two of Rookie of the Year voting with a full year of service time, there is still an incentive to delay service time accumulation.
Time manipulation was a key point of contention during the last round of Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations that birthed the current agreement. For years we’ve seen young prospects show their team they are ready for the show, only to be told they won’t break spring training with the big league team.
One of the best examples of the practice took place with one of our very own MLBbros.
George Springer Knows About Time Manipulation
Toronto Blue Jays outfielder George Springer was a cornerstone of the Houston Astros youth movement and the first call-up that sparked their current dynasty. Drafted 11th overall in 2011, Springer would go on to hit .302/.397/.562 in three-plus minor league seasons. But after turning down what was clearly a lowball contract extension before his debut, he was sent down to the minors for the first 14 games.
Missing those games meant that Springer would not accumulate the 172 days on the big league roster required to accumulate a full year of service time. Fourteen games may have seemed small to some, but missing those games meant an additional year of control for the Astros.
Springer, now a Toronto Blue Jay, would eventually make his MLB debut and enjoyed great success in Houston. He slashed .270/.361/.491 while averaging 25 home runs, 65 RBI, 20 doubles, and an OPS+ of 131 in six seasons with the Astros. His 39 leadoff home runs are currently second all-time in team history, and his five-home run performance in the 2017 World Series earned him the series MVP.
Springer would leave Houston via free agency in 2020, and in a full circle moment finally accumulated the 10 years necessary to qualify for the MLB Pension when the Blue Jays visited the Astros in 2022.
“It’s Ironic, ” Springer said, “to accomplish that feat, it obviously started in this building, and that’s where it’s going to come full circle.”
Springer and the Astros situation eventually worked out for both parties. Let’s hope the Nationals are able to say the same.
If the MLB season were to end today the Toronto Blue Jays would claim the third and final wild card spot.
The team has been fairly consistent throughout the season even though they are in arguably the toughest division in the Major Leagues. The team will have to take every game seriously over the course of the next month and a half.
This is why the streak that MLBbro George Springer is on could not have come at a better time.
I stated in an article I wrote earlier this season that the Blue Jays have been to the postseason as recently as last year, but the sweep in 2022 still haunts them.
Springer, a World Series MVP with the Astros, knows the importance of this time of year and how much it means to be performing at a high level in the waning moments of the season.
Since August 1, the MLBbro is batting .382 and is close to eclipsing his July totals before the second week of the month is complete.
Evidence of how locked in Springer is right now can be seen in his 13-pitch AB with Guardian’s pitcher Logan Allen. Springer finished the AB with a Bro bomb that would lead to the 1-0 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on the road.
Springer’s Hot Bat Moved Down From Leadoff Spot
While Springer has spent most of his career at the leadoff spot, the Blue Jays have recently moved him down in the lineup. The MLBbro has been batting cleanup this past week and it has been met with great results as he is batting .444 with one home run and three doubles. Versatility has always been a big part of Springer’s game, so he is happy to fulfill whatever vacancy manager John Schneider deems necessary for the team’s success.
MLBbro George Springer is a key component of the Blue Jay’s plans and will factor into their desired success. He is a proven playoff performer, and in 2017 he delivered one of the most dominating World Series performances seen in recent memory.
If he can get into his playoff form earlier than usual and maintain that intensity, Toronto will be a dark horse team to contend with this year.
Jordan “Sky” Walker continued his high level of hitting this week, boosting his career-high hitting streak to 17 games with a single up the middle against the Astros on Thursday night.
The Cardinals top prospect has been a force since being recalled to the Majors in early June and caps off the month by earning the top spot in Week 13 of our #HighFive List.
1. Jordan “Sky” Walker
Walker’s 17-game hitting streak is the longest going in the Major Leagues and bests his previous career-high of 12 he set at the beginning of the season.
Jordan “Sky” Walker extends his rookie hitting streak to 17 games passing Erik Pappas and tying Albert Pujols for the third-longest in team history. pic.twitter.com/aw9lGa2yxr
After falling into a slight cold spell once the streak ended, Walker spent a little over a month with the Cardinals Triple-A affiliate in Memphis before rejoining the club on June 2nd.
“I had some of the toughest times of my life down there,” Walker told MLBbro.com. “Most of what I learned was mental. I felt the worst I ever have at the plate. But I realized no matter what you are going through at some point you will get out of it.”
Walker will end this month hitting over .330 while adding four home runs, nine RBI and a .418 on base percentage.
He looks to extend the streak to 20 after a three-game series against the Yankees this weekend.
2. “Money” Michael Harris II
Michael Harris recovered from a Rookie of the Year hangover and became the best nine-hole hitter in baseball in a month’s time.
This is the third consecutive week Harris earned his way into the #HighFive after posting a .385 average over his last seven games, but that does not do him full justice.
Through the last 15 games Harris is hitting an unprecedented .456 with four home runs, 11 RBI, a .458 on base percentage, .772 slugging and 13 runs scored.
3. Devin “The Airbender” Williams
Devin Williams is in a different mode on the mound.
Line his resume this season up with anyone and you will find Williams is one of if not the best closer in the Majors.
On June 13th Williams blew his first save of the season, but aside from that outlier performance where he gave up four earned, he has not given up a run since May 7th!
Over that span he has 22 strikeouts in 17.1 innings and has a batting average of .118 in June.
Williams is fourth among closers in the National League in saves and his 12 hits allowed are the lease for any qualifying closer.
4. Josh Naylor
Josh Naylor has been mashing baseballs this season and he got an emotional boost this week after his brother Bo was called to the Majors.
Tuesday night the Naylor brothers became the third pair of brothers to record two hits each in the same game and the first since 1955.
Josh, who is hitting .300 in his last seven games has collected hits in 22 of his last 26 games and ranks 8th in the American League in average and is 5th in the Majors in RBI.
The competition at first base for All-Star berths is steep, but taking names away from statistics Naylor is hands down a cut above the rest.
5. George Springer
George Springer’s leadoff home run last Sunday gives him 55 for his career and moves him to second All-Time trailing only the legendary Rickey Henderson who had 81 in his career.
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