Aaron Judge, man, oh man. It’s almost impossible to come up with any more adjectives to describe his 2022 season. The New York Yankees took three out of four against the Kansas City Royals. After a disappointing series loss against cross-town rival New York Mets, a great bounce-back series win for the bombers. Clay Holmes, who blew the save in game four, is the only reason the Yankees don’t leave with a four-game sweep. It was a rough month of July for New York, who went 13-13. They will look to heat up as the postseason nears.
Aaron Judge
Judge drove in nine with four home runs and had a game two walk-off ding dong which was only the second hit of the day for the Yanks. Judge has gone scorched earth since right before the All-Star break. In the last 14-game stretch, Judge slashes an incredible .426/.523/1.130 (yes, that’s his slugging) with 12 homers and 26 RBI. And for the entire month of July, Aaron slashed .333/.446/.806 with a 1.252 OPS.
Aaron Judge is slashing .426/.523/1.130 (23-54 AB) with 12 HR, 26 RBI in his last 14 G.
Since Judge’s 14-game stretch began on July 14, he’s outhomered seven different teams, including the Royals (eight homers).
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) July 31, 2022
As we enter August, the right fielder leads the majors in homers with 42 and has passed Babe Ruth and Roger Maris for most home runs before August, a new Yankee record. Judge is just 20 homers away from breaking the long-standing Yankee home run record of 61, which many fans still believe to be the real home run record. In an already historic Yankee season, Judge has been historic. Considering all the contract drama and the impending free agency, to perform the way he’s performing is jaw-dropping and a pleasure to watch. Hal Steinbrenner. Pay him every dollar.
Yankees Trade Deadline Needs
While Aaron Judge has been unreal, he can’t do everything. But after a rough month of July, Brian Cashman must make the moves necessary. New York addressed the outfield by adding lefty outfield bat Andrew Benintendi. But they will need to hone in on adding pitching. The injury to Mike King was a severe blow to the staff as he was having a career season as the Yankees set-up man. Furthermore, the recent performances from the rest of the rotation and bullpen are a far cry from the performances from the beginning of the season.
After missing out on former Cincinnati Reds pitcher Luis Castillo, Frankie Montas and Carlos Rodón are the main targets to add to this Yankees rotation. Cashman will also hope to find another diamond in the rough to add to the bullpen like he did when he traded for Holmes in July of last year. Altogether, this Yankees team is the best the organization has had in a long time; this is the championship window, and they need to go all-in.
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Players Mentioned:
Aaron Judge, Clay Holmes, Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Andrew Benintendi, Luis Castillo, Frankie Montas, Carlos Rodón
