As of June 4, Aaron Judge leads all MLB players with 18 home runs. His 41 RBI are easily the most by any rookie (Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers is second with 31 RBI). Due to his success, naturally the question of participating in the Home Run Derby, MLB’s annual dingerfest, has been asked to Judge.
Aaron Judge Deserves a Chance to Participate in the Home Run Derby
The 6’ 7”, 282 lb. slugger’s response to a question about the Home Run Derby showed his interest in the event.
“The Home Run Derby is awesome,” Judge said according to NJ.com. “It’s a fun event to watch and I’d probably do it if they asked me.”
Many superstar players have had reservations about participating in the long ball event, and some have been restricted by their teams. There is a long-held belief that the Home Run Derby can seriously ruin a player’s swing. This is believed because they aren’t accustomed to using max force to try and hit one out on every pitch.
In 2015, Joc Pederson was in a similar situation as Judge. At 23 years-old (two years younger than Judge), Pederson had burst onto the scene with 20 first-half home runs.
Pederson hammered out 14 in the Derby, but managed only six more dingers in the second half of 2015. He batted just .178 after the break and was yanked out of the Dodgers starting lineup. He also racked up 170 strikeouts on the season.
Since then, Pederson has slowly returned to respectability. He rebounded to have a nice 2016 season; one that featured better plate discipline.
The difference is that Judge has gone through the maturation process already. Judge was first called up in late 2016, and sent a ball to Monument Park in his first at bat. However, many a Yankee fan know his September struggles. He struck out 42 times in just 27 games, a rate that would average 252 strikeouts over a full season.
Judge worked hard in the offseason and came back in 2017, barely winning the nod for starting in right field over Aaron Hicks, who’s having a great season in his own right. Judge is becoming a superstar before our eyes. In 2017, he has struck out 64 times over 52 contests, and worked 32 walks. Along with 18 dingers, he has maintained a great .429 on base clip. Judge is the only rookie to have hit at least 10 homers while maintaining a .300+ batting average (Aaron’s at .324 after Sunday’s game).
Three Yankees have won the Home Run Derby since its inception in 1985: Tino Martinez in 1997, Jason Giambi in 2002, and Robinson Cano in 2011. Cano had his best season in 2012, and his excellent production carried over into the second half. He hit .312 with 13 homers and 41 RBI after the break. Robbie finished fourth in AL MVP voting that year.
Judge has begun to compile an impressive resume of Home Run Derby-worthy shots. He blew out a Yankee Stadium screen located near the right center field bleachers during batting practice in early May.
On Friday, Judge sent a ball that landed in the fifth deck of Toronto’s Rogers Centre during batting practice before that night’s contest against the Blue Jays. Seventeen-year veteran David Cone, a former Yankees and Blue Jays starter, claims that few balls have traveled that far up in Toronto’s dome.
How sweet would it be to see Judge go up against Giancarlo Stanton? The verdict is in: Aaron Judge is sentenced to participation in the Home Run derby. (Made it to the last line before giving in and using a Judge pun).
