For two months, Aaron Judge missed many games due to a toe injury. This hurt the Yankees so badly that the club fell apart.
We understand even more its importance in the city.
His return is painful, but he is still there. The fact that he and Gerrit Cole continue to play well like this says a lot about the character of the two men.
And just yesterday, in a Yankees (4-1) win over the Detroit Tigers, Judge homered. It was his 29th of the season.
29 homers for a guy who played 77, we agree that it’s a very good pace. And for a guy playing injured, it’s even better.
But did you know he’s still ranked fourth among American League homers right now?
He is beaten by Shohei Ohtani (44), Luis Robert (34) and Adolis Garcia (32), but that’s it. Rafael Devers is also at 29 homers.
When you look at the following table, it’s clear that no other player in the American top-11 is close to the pace of Judge, who is hitting practically at the rate of 2022.
Jake Burger (25 long balls in 88 games) is somewhat in the same spirit.
But OK. It’s not going to bring the Yankees back into the playoff portrait, which makes it all kind of empty calories, as Pierre Vercheval would say.
But it’s not the judge’s fault.
Note that yesterday’s victory was achieved while Luis Severino had a superb start. It is the colleague Sébastien Berrouard who must be surprised…
- Kevin Gausman: First American pitcher to reach 200 strikeouts in 2023. He had offensive support in a win against Washington.
- Single, double, triple and long ball for Jose Altuve.
- No news about Bo Bichette yet.
- A name to watch in San Francisco.
