The Yankees Have An Aaron Judge Problem

Aaron judge is by far a top hitter in baseball it's been that way since his rookie season in 2017 and that stands today ahead of the 2024 season when you think of Judge you probably think of the home runs the great power he's brought and continues to bring to the Yankee lineup but what makes judge so great is the fact that he does hit home runs and for so much power but while also hitting for a good batting average getting on base more than most the only flaw in his game is the strikeouts and how much of a flaw really is that when everything else is abnormally good he also plays good defense in the Outfield as a great arm I mean he's as valuable of a hitter as one can get and after judge's 2022 season it was pretty damn clear that the New York Yankees needed to keep the man give him the money he's deserved and earned and that's what ended up happening 2023 was the first of the 9-year $360 million contract he signed so judge has 8 years left of making $40 million annually it's a big commitment obviously but judging no pun intended by the numbers by judge it's a contract worth paying and committing to and I still believe that I still believe that it was the right move to pay up and keep them I think it's worth the potential risk the risk will already seem kind of come to fruition as great as Aaron judge is there are some issues that come with him especially recently issues that you don't need to be worrying about with your $360 million man yet here we are and they're issues that judge himself has made clear that they will have to keep an eye on but before I get any further make sure to hit that subscribe button if you haven't already over 65% of my watch time is from people who aren't subscribed a lot of viewers just don't realize they aren't so if you enjoy the video hit that button along with the bell for post notifications thank you last year despite coming off such a historic season judge had no regression period whatsoever he was incredible and just 49 games into the season judge was on Pace to have an even better season than the one before seriously 19 home runs and LS almost at 1100 I mean it was amazing unfortunately during that 49th game judge made an awesome catch and right field at Dodger Stadium that's not the unfortunate part though the unfortunate part is that when judge caught the ball he ran into the right field wall and actually broke the door down but when that happened he tore a ligament in his right big toe going on to miss almost two months as a result he did come back and play almost every game putting up great numbers but the most unfortunate part of it all is the fact that those two months weren't the only months affected by this toe injury it's an injury that still affects judge today and according to him forever will at the beginning of Spring training about a month ago judge told reporters that his toe was feeling good but also said that the injury would require unquote constant maintenance throughout the rest of his career in order to avoid future issues with it that's not something you want to hear when it comes to the most important player on your team at least on the hitting side of things to think that it's something they really will have to keep an eye on is scary but the scarier part is that that's not all and it's part of an overall broader issue with judge there's an even newer nagging issue with judge right now and it's his abs his abs have been sore and he recently got an MRI on them which came back clean but it's affecting his oblique muscle so the team has been taking things care Y and slowly with judge but I just can't help but realize how worrisome this all is the problem isn't if judge can perform if he plays that's never been a concern and it's basically as close to a guarantee as possible that if judge is in the Yankee lineup he will be one of if not the best hitter in baseball the problem is how reliable he will be to be on the field and it's been this way for a while half of judge's full season so other than 2020 and 2016 which he didn't plan off games to be his rookie year judge has played in most of the 162 games half the time and the other three he's Miss a ton of games because of an injury in 2018 judge missed 2 months after he fractured a bone in his wrist on a pitch that hit him and in 2019 he missed even more games ironically exactly how I just explained him in 2019 he missed 60 games because of an oblique strain that he suffered while hitting a single during a game I mean that's basically as Aaron judge as it gets he hits a single and performs but then simultaneously gets hurt he makes an incredible catch at the wall on right field only to then tear a ligament in his toe and Miss games story of his life and now not only is that toe according to judge himself going to be something to keep an eye on for the rest of his career but the oblique is still an issue and his abs are sore so as incredible as Aaron judge is it's difficult to be incredible when you're not playing and that's an issue the Yankees will unfortunately have to worry about from this point forward it's undeniable especially when the big man himself is telling you one of his multiple injuries won't ever fully go away so you can rest judge you can play it easy on him during the season and stuff like that and kind of baby him quote unquote but remember this is this is your $360 million man for a reason he's insanely good and without him your team is nowhere near the same and when judges getting paid that much I don't think it's unfair to expect at least 150 games out of them seems like the bare minimum for a player that important and highly paid but it also seems like that will be hard for him to consistently do with the way his body has been and continues to be let me know what you think thank you for watching and I'll see you soon