N.Y. Yankees: Jury Still Out on Aaron Judge

From the desk of: BLAME CARLOS MAY

ABILITY vs. AVAILABILITY

A Crumbling Cookie?

As a freshman, the 2017 American League Rookie of the Year plays 155 games.  Now confirmed, injuries have since compromised each of Aaron Judge's next three regular seasons (wrist fracture, shoulder soreness, an oblique strain, broken rib and partially collapsed lung, and now a calf injury).

In 2018 he misses fifty games from July 26 through Sept. 14, and last season he is unavailable from April 20 through June 21, bringing up the number of games missed to one hundred ten.  This season Judge gets off to an astounding start slashing .290/.343/.758, with nine home runs and twenty RBI in just seventeen games and 62 at-bats.  He last plays on August 11, and has since missed the Yankees last seven games, bringing his number of games lost due to injury since 2018 up to 117 out of a possible 348 Yankees games, not including post-season.  Said another way, Aaron Judge's court is out of session 33% of the time.  He has so far missed 11% of this 2020 truncated season.

In 2018 the Yankees are 76-41 (.649) with him, and 24-21 (.533) without him.  In 2019 the Yankees are 66-42 (.611) with him, and 37-17 (.685) without him.  Entering Thursday's action the Yankees are 5-2 since Judge went down.  I like to say: once is an event, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a trend.  But Aaron Judge's absence from the line-up has so far proven negligible.

The jury is still out.

MLB CANCLES FRIDAY'S 

METS vs. YANKEES at CITI FIELD 

DUE TO COVID-19