Aaron Judge

[frankbmd]

I believe Judge would be the first MVP, or ROY for that matter, with 200+ strikeouts, and possibly could finish the year with more Ks than Nellie Fox had in his entire 19 year major league career (216).

Granted Nellie didn't hit the long ball, but Joe DiMaggio almost had one home run (361) for every time he struck out (369). Judge currently has over 4 strikeouts (245) for each home run (54).

Three more dissimilar good ballplayers would be hard to name.

[MrSeven]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

I believe Judge would be the first MVP, or ROY for that matter, with 200+ strikeouts, and possibly could finish the year with more Ks than Nellie Fox had in his entire 19 year major league career (216).

Granted Nellie didn't hit the long ball, but Joe DiMaggio almost had one home run (361) for every time he struck out (369). Judge currently has over 4 strikeouts (245) for each home run (54).

Three more dissimilar good ballplayers would be hard to name.

Strikeouts are far more common today then when Joltin' Joe played.

Bob Feller's 8.1 strikeouts per 9 innings ratio was remarkable in 1946 (only the 4th time it had happened in the NL since formation).

From 2000 to 2015, it has happened 290 times.

https://www.theringer.com/2016/6/17/...g-63da5eb7b35d

For a more modern comparison, Jim Thome comes to mind. 2548 career strike outs to 612 home runs.

[Bill77]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Three more dissimilar good ballplayers would be hard to name.

One that comes to mind is Mike Trout. Not to say that Trout is a bad player because he is not but the similarities to his 2014 season a Judge's 2017 season are crazy. And Trout also has a greater than 4 to 1 SO to HR ratio for his career so far.

[packs]

People keep bringing up the slump but in the month of September Judge has hit 13 homers and cemented a playoff spot for his team. The Yankees did not have anything guaranteed at the start of the month and now they've clinched. If Jose Ramirez's play in the final month of the season is something that makes him a contender, why would the same not be said about Judge? I realize the Indians record is tied into Ramirez's performance, but they were in either way being 8 games up on the Twins on September 1.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by packs

People keep bringing up the slump but in the month of September Judge has hit 13 homers and cemented a playoff spot for his team. The Yankees did not have anything guaranteed at the start of the month and now they've clinched. If Jose Ramirez's play in the final month of the season is something that makes him a contender, why would the same not be said about Judge? I realize the Indians record is tied into Ramirez's performance, but they were in either way being 8 games up on the Twins on September 1.

If Judge didnt slump and hit consistently for the entire year and thus no super hot weeks and ended up with the same statistics, isnt it the same thing? Stats are stats. Its a slump if it causes you not to get your statistics. If you get your stats, theres no slumps. Add to the fact he plays in New York and they made the playoffs as cherry on top.

Now a guy like Thames on the brewers...he had a 2nd slump...thats a real slump..

[rats60]

Originally Posted by packs

People keep bringing up the slump but in the month of September Judge has hit 13 homers and cemented a playoff spot for his team. The Yankees did not have anything guaranteed at the start of the month and now they've clinched. If Jose Ramirez's play in the final month of the season is something that makes him a contender, why would the same not be said about Judge? I realize the Indians record is tied into Ramirez's performance, but they were in either way being 8 games up on the Twins on September 1.

Again, Judge was still horrible the first 9 days of September. He has been hot 2 weeks, not the whole month. When Judge started hitting, the wild card was pretty much wrapped up. It would have taken an epic collapse for the Yankees to miss the playoffs. If the Yankees had gone 0-14 instead of 10-4, they would still be tied for the 2nd wild card spot. 7-7 and they still have a playoff birth clinched and are ahead of the Twins.

Ramirez hot streak started in August when the race was close and now they have the league's best record. That is huge. The Indians streak was historic. Ramirez performance during that streak was insane. 29-2 can't be ignored. Until the season is over, nothing is written in stone, but at this point Ramirez has been the league's most valuable player in my opinion.

[packs]

The Indians were in first place on August 1 too. The streak is important to you because you like the Indians. Judge's September is important to me because I like the Yankees. It's a little frustrating to be called a homer by you but you don't see yourself as a homer as well. Saying the Yankees could have gone 0-14 and still made the playoffs doesn't really make a lot of sense to me because you can't look at the standings today and act like the Yankees didn't have to win games this month because of how things eventually turned out.

[MattyC]

While it's certainly flattering to Judge to even be in the MVP discussion as a rookie, this is sort of shifting into an MVP-debate thread.

No one knows how the voters will cast their subjective votes, so it's a lot of Sturm und Drang over something that only time will tell. Snapshots can be taken and cited, numbers parsed, yet only the men who vote know what they weigh most.

For anyone interested I found this article a good morning coffee read; reminded me that life and baseball are all about how we respond when the chips are down:

http://nypost.com/2017/09/26/how-the...-hes-for-real/

Some important reg season baseball still to be played and watched!

[rats60]

Originally Posted by packs

The Indians were in first place on August 1 too. The streak is important to you because you like the Indians. Judge's September is important to me because I like the Yankees. It's a little frustrating to be called a homer by you but you don't see yourself as a homer as well. Saying the Yankees could have gone 0-14 and still made the playoffs doesn't really make a lot of sense to me because you can't look at the standings today and act like the Yankees didn't have to win games this month because of how things eventually turned out.

I am Pirates fan and went to Game 1 of the World Series last year and rooted for the Cubs. I don't see how you think that I am a homer for the Indians. I don't see how you can deny a 22 game win streak, 29-2 record and huge numbers from Ramirez during that streak. Up until the last week, I have had Altuve as MVP. If Judge has another good week and the Yankees win the division, I may change again.

[packs]

I don't deny the streak, I deny its significance re: MVP voting. The Indians have been in first place for months. If this was the 1914 Braves and they went on that tear, sure I can see that making a guy an MVP. But it was a first place team.