Aaron Judge Back

Did you forget about the Yankees? I know you did not because you are not allowed to. But New York has had a relatively quiet season by their flamboyant and national-TV-darling standards. A big part of this is that the AL East has looked pretty much the same for a while now: The Rays have maintained a comfortable but not secure division lead; the less said about what's happening down there with the bird teams, the better; and in the middle, the Red Sox have ended child hunger and positioned themselves for what feels like an inevitable three-game wild card series against New York. If the Yankees have been invisible, it's because they've only been "pretty good," and mostly because they can't hit for shit. Since June 1, they've slashed .227/.295/.385, rank 26th in MLB in runs scored, and 29th in wRC+. That they remain safely in playoff position is testament to their league-best pitching, but any self-respecting Bronx Bomber fan will tell you that's an unethical way to win ballgames. That's what the "Milwaukee Brewers" do. Yankees fans demand big boys! Big meaty boys swinging those big bats! Instead they got Trent Grisham. That changes tonight. Why choose June 1 as the cutoff for the stats above? That's the day Aaron Judge went on the IL for a stress fracture in his rib, suffered more than a month earlier. “We’ve had long stretches where the offense has struggled. I think a big part of that is not having your guy,” manager Aaron Boone said. Their guy has now missed more than half the season, and as goes Judge so go the Yankees: They were a .610 team with him in the lineup, and a .536 team without him.

Read it at Defector ↗

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