Aaron Judge absolutely raking in his contract year
Drew Silva dives into New York Yankees OF Aaron Judge's career numbers early in the season and if they are sustainable.
Video Transcript
- There was a report on May 18 from the Newark "Star-Ledger" that the Yankees were or are willing to continue contract talks with Aaron Judge at any time. The two sides failed to come together on a long-term extension before opening day. And it sounds like there is some level of regret now among the organization's higher-ups that a more aggressive effort was not made to lock Judge up.
The impending free agent slugger has exploded out of the gate this year with a .318 batting average, 1.065 OPS, and a league-leading 15 home runs through 39 games. That includes a .343 average and an 1.170 OPS in May. So you can easily understand where the regret stems from and why the Yankees don't want Judge to get even a whiff of free agency this November.
There have been durability issues in the past. But Judge played in 148 games last year, and he's taken only two days off here in his age 30 campaign. The production when he is healthy goes unquestioned. Since his AL Rookie of the Year win in 2017, Judge has posted 47 homers and 107 RBIs for every 162 games played, all with a .961 OPS and a 157 OPS+.
