Aaron Judge Is Still Very Clearly The Best Player In Baseball And We All Take Him For Granted

Alika Jenner. Getty Images.

Aaron Judge is a special baseball player and I got news for ya —we all take him for granted. Hate the Yankees or love them to death, we don't appreciate what we're witnessing when it comes to this behemoth on a daily basis. Not only has he transformed his offensive game to be this God-like all around hitter who you can't pitch to, but his defense is so good that it's honestly slept on. 

The leap and timing of this robbery in Seattle Monday night was extraordinary. It's as good of a home run robbery as you'll see from a right fielder, especially one who is 6 foot fucking 7. 

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Half his body was above the wall. Just silly. It's even sillier that Judge hasn't won a gold glove award yet, but it'll hopefully come this year. He's well overdue for that hardware. 

Fresh off signing his giant contract and being named captain of the team, Judge hasn't missed a beat at the plate. In 45 games this year he's slashing .302/.408/.679 with 17 homers and 38 RBI. Through 45 games in 2022 he was at 17 homers 36 RBI with a .304/.373/.655 slash. So yeah, he's basically just doing this shit all over again. Preposterous. 

Something I've grown to appreciate from Judge is how much he's evolved as a hitter since making his debut. Just look back at his first ever homer in the bigs and how stiff he looked up there. Barely used any legs and relied big time on his upper body strength to just pulverize balls. He was raw obviously, but the evolution from them to now is crazy to see. 

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It's night and day from what we see now. 

Blasts two homers and robs one himself. I don't know exactly what goes into WAR, but that's gotta be a +1 at the minimum. What a fucking performance and it's honestly what we've come to expect. 

That's now 78 homers for Judge over his last 189 games played. Because of how late his MLB career started he likely won't have the counting stats when his career is all said and done that will make you jump out of your chair. His prime seasons though, what we're witnessing now, will be what people pay attention to. 

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He's the kind of player you tell your kids you got to watch in person. It's not an exaggeration either. If you don't believe that you're taking what you're seeing for granted. The final years of his newly signed deal might not be the prettiest depending on how his body holds up, but the now that you're getting from him made it impossible to pass up. He is the best player in baseball and has been for a little while now. 

Judge's legacy with the Yankees will obviously be cemented with a World Series championship. If he can get one here he'll be immortal within the organization and the sport if he keeps this up. Regardless of that, I cannot imagine a world where this dude is on the Giants or Padres right now. Watching this mythical beast do this every night is a goddamn privilege.