We really need to have this talk on New York Yankees star Aaron Judge.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a piece discussing the potential decline of New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge. All of the signs were there then, and now, as we begin June, they are even more glaring.
Judge slashed .243/.368/.437 with five home runs and 18 RBI in the month of May. Poor numbers? Hardly. Unlike Judge? You bet.
What's more, Judge has homered just once since May 11. That's a wild drought for the man who has bashed 50-plus long balls in three of the last four seasons.
A deeper look into his statistics also reveals some even more concerning nuggets.
On the season as a whole, Judge is batting .248, which is a career low. It's not like he is getting incredibly unlucky either, as he owns a .282 BABIP.
The problem? The 34-year-old is not hitting the ball nearly as hard as he once did.
Excluding the pandemic-shortened campaign in which Judge played in just 28 games, Judge's hard-hit rate (57.3 percent) is his lowest mark since 2018. His barrel rate (21.7 percent) is his worst since 2021. His .290 ISO is by far his low point since 2021, as is his 39 percent ground-ball rate.
On top of all of that, Judge's defense seems to be slipping.
Let me make one thing clear: his numbers are still fantastic. He owns a .908 OPS on the campaign, which is elite. He remains one of the most feared hitters in all of baseball. But it seems pretty obvious something is amiss.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge. Credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images.This is a man who posted an OPS over 1.000 each of the last four seasons. He was over 1.100 in three of them. Last year, he won a batting title. He batted well over .300 in three of the last four campaigns, as well.
What is happening?
Well, is it possible that Father Time is simply catching up to the Yankee captain?
I know no one wants to have this discussion just yet. It's only June, and the Yankees are playing some great baseball right now. But notice that they're doing it with Judge being very, very human.
We knew this was going to happen at some point, which was why there was such a sense of urgency among fans for Brian Cashman to put together a title-contending roster now. Again, Judge is 34. He isn't young anymore, and the start of a decline at this age is perfectly natural. Even for Judge.
I'm not trying to jump the gun here, but we just witnessed Judge's worst month since March/April 2024, when he got off to a miserable start before going on an absolute tear the rest of the season.
Otherwise, we haven't seen the three-time AL MVP this tame offensively in eons. And while his defense had certainly fallen off in recent years, this season seems a bit more drastic.
Maybe Judge will go ballistic this month and completely destroy this narrative, but you can't help but wonder if he is finally starting to go downhill when you look at the metrics. And that's a frightening thought.
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