Aaron Judge, Outfield, New York Yankees, #99


Date of Birth: 4/26/1992
Birthplace: Linden, California
College: California State University, Fresno

Aaron Judge, outfielder for the New York Yankees, was first drafted by the Oakland Athletics in 2010 but he didn't sign with them. Three years later, he was drafted by the Yankees. He played in the Yankees minor league system in 2014 and 2015. He had an injury in 2013 that caused him to miss the entire season.

Judge played in 27 games with the Yankees in 2016. He hit his first major league home run in his first at-bat in his first game on August 13th. He hit his second home run in his second major league game. He finished the season with 15 hits, 4 home runs, 42 strikeouts to 9 walks, and a .179 batting average. Defensively, as a right fielder in 27 games, he made 35 putouts and 1 error. He also played in 93 games in the minors in 2016.

Judge had an incredible first full season in the majors in 2017. He finished the season with 52 home runs, the most by a rookie and second only to Giancarlo Stanton's 59 home runs. He had 154 hits, 24 doubles, 114 RBIs (6th most in MLB), and a .284 batting average in 155 games. He was second in MLB in runs scored with 128, third in on-base percentage with .422 and third in slugging with .624. He also had the most strikeouts with 208 and the second most walks with 127. Defensively, as a right fielder in 141 games, he had 265 putouts and 5 errors.

In the 2017 postseason, Judge batted just .188 with 9 hits, including 4 home runs and 3 doubles, and 11 RBIs in 48 at-bats in 13 games. In the Wild Card game, he had a two-run home run in the 4th inning. He hit his second postseason home run in Game 3 of the American League Championship series. In Game 4, he scored the first run for the Yankees and in his next at-bat, he doubled to tie the game.

Judge was unanimously elected the 2017 AL Rookie of the Year. He came in second to Jose Altuve for the AL MVP award. Other awards he won in 2017 include:

  • Silver Slugger award
  • Baseball America Rookie of the Year
  • MLB Rookie of the Month 4 times (April-June, September)

Judge set several MLB records in 2017, including:

  • most home runs by a rookie
  • most strikeouts and most walks by a rookie
  • first rookie with at least 45 home runs, 100 RBIs, and 100 runs scored

In addition to all of his honors in the regular season, Judge won the Home Run Derby in July.

Judge spent time on the DL in 2018 with a fractured wrist. Although he had only 27 home runs, he still had a good season, finishing with 115 hits, 22 doubles, 67 RBIs, and a .278 batting average in 112 games. Defensively, as the Yankees' right fielder in 90 games, he made 170 putouts and 3 errors. He had a strong postseason, batting .421 in 5 games. He had 8 hits, including 3 home runs, and 4 RBIs in 19 at-bats. He struck out three times and walked three times.

Judge was on the DL again in 2019 with a left oblique strain. He finished the season with 103 hits, 18 doubles, 27 home runs, 55 RBIs, 141 strikeouts to 64 walks, and a .272 batting average in 102 games. A strong defensive right fielder, he was awarded the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year award in 2019. In 92 games, he made 177 putouts and no errors. In the postseason, he batted .265 with 9 hits, 1 home run, 2 stolen bases, and 11 strikeouts to 7 walks in 34 at-bats in 9 games.

Judge played in 28 games in 2020. He finished the season with 26 hits, 3 doubles, 9 home runs, 22 RBIs, 32 strikeouts to 10 walks, and a .257 batting average. Defensively, he played 25 games in right field. In the postseason, he batted .133 with 4 hits, 3 home runs, and 5 RBIs in 30 at-bats in 7 games.

Judge had a strong season in 2022, winning his second Silver Slugger award. He finished the season with 158 hits, 24 doubles, 39 home runs, 98 RBIs, 158 strikeouts to 75 walks, and a .287 batting average. Defensively, as a right fielder in 114 games, he had 206 putouts and 3 errors. In the postseason, he had 1 hit in 4 at-bats in 1 game.

In 2022, Judge set an AL home run record. On October 4th, he hit his 62nd home run of the season, breaking Roger Maris' record of 61 home runs, set in 1961.

Career batting statistics for Judge through 2021 include:

  • 572 games played
  • 571 hits
  • 93 doubles
  • 158 home runs
  • 366 RBIs
  • 733 strikeouts to 361 walks
  • .276 batting average

Career fielding statistics for Judge as a right fielder through 2021 include:

  • 489 games played
  • 898 putouts
  • 12 errors
  • .987 fielding percentage

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Aaron Judge
MiLB - Aaron Judge
ESPN - Aaron Judge