Aaron Judge: 2019 Season in Review

All Rise for the first breakdown and player grade of this past season.

When Aaron Judge won Rookie of the Year in 2017, the future could not have looked brighter.

Judge finished second in the MVP race that season, hitting 52 home runs -- setting the rookie record and leading the American League. It was a meteoric rise to stardom that had Yankee fans enthralled about their right fielder’s future.

After a terrific first half of the 2018 season, earning Judge his second consecutive start in the All-Star Game, a chip fracture of his right wrist on a hit by pitch sidelined him for the entire month of August and a chunk of September.

This past season, with expectations for a bounce back year, an oblique strain shelved Judge for two months, once again hindering the 27-year-old from a full season of playing time. He finished 2019 with 27 home runs, a .272 batting average and 55 RBI in 102 games.

Highlights

For most, almost 30 homers would be considered a solid season. After all, Judge won the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award in right field, so he was impactful in more ways than one.

Despite a lengthy trip to the injured list, Judge reminded us all in 2019 that he is still one of the most dangerous hitters in the game.

According to Statcast, Judge’s hard hit percentage was 57.1 and he barreled balls in play 20.2 percent of the time -- both in league’s top percentile. In fact, his average exit velocity (95.9 mph) was first in all of baseball and a new career high.

It took until the end of August for Judge to find his groove. From August 20 to September 22, Judge left the yard in each of New York’s 10 series for a total of 14 home runs. When the Yanks and Dodgers squared off on Players' Weekend, in what many believed would be a World Series preview, Judge homered in all three games.

On August 27, No. 99 launched the 100th home run of his career, a missile to center field off Seattle’s Yusei Kikuchi. It took Judge 371 career games to reach the century mark, making him the third-fastest in baseball history behind Ryan Howard (325) and teammate Gary Sanchez (355).

Judge devoured left-handed pitching, hitting .343 in 122 plate appearances against southpaws. Further, the right fielder stepped up his game in Yankee victories -- in the 61 wins that Judge was a part of, he hit north of .300, launched 20 of his 27 long balls and had an OPS of 1.036.

Overall, Judge had his best month in August, posting a .284 average with 8 home runs and 15 RBI. 

Room For Improvement 

Judge missed a total of 54 games after straining his left oblique on April 20, sitting out until June 21. Injuries happen -- pretty much every single player on New York’s roster was hurt at some point or another in 2019 -- but beyond missing time, Judge struggled when it mattered most.

In nine postseason games, and 42 plate appearances, Judge managed just one home run and had only two runs batted in. In the ALCS alone, Judge struck out 10 times -- at least once all six games of the series.

Speaking of punch outs, Judge had a 31.5 percent strikeout rate in 2019, up from his previous two seasons in the big leagues. He finished the year with 141 strikeouts.

To put that into perspective, Cincinnati’s Eugenio Suarez -- who played in 159 games -- led baseball with 189 strikeouts in 2019. Judge was on a 159-game pace for 220.

Grade: B

The reason why it’s justifiable to be critical of Judge’s performance this past season is because of his potential. We've witnessed what he’s capable and it’s only a matter of time until he replicates (and eventually surpasses) the statistical output of his rookie year.

That starts with staying on the field.

Regardless of how critical fans and members of the media can be, Judge holds himself accountable. After New York’s loss in Game 6 of the ALCS, ending their season, Judge called himself out...

“Being a leader of this team, I gotta step up and do something,” he said.

If Judge can steer clear of the injured list in 2020, we’re looking at a possible MVP candidate.

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