New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge has been hitting home runs at a torrid pace in 2022.
He hasn’t stopped all year long: he hit his 56th and 57th long ball of the year on Tuesday night against the Boston Red Sox.
He is on his way to establishing a new American League single-season home run record: Yankees legend Roger Maris is currently in possession of it, with 61 in 1961.
He has about 20 team games left to pursue a place in history.
Teams, however, are currently pitching more strikes than ever to him, which is puzzling to say the least.
“% pitches thrown to Aaron Judge that were in zone: 47.6% <—- April 2022; 48.7% <—- May 2022; 48.0% <—- June 2022; 44.2% <—- July 2022; 43.4% <—- August 2022; 53.4% <—- September 2022,” Codify Baseball tweeted.
% pitches thrown to Aaron Judge that were in zone:
47.6% <—- April 2022
48.7% <—- May 2022
48.0% <—- June 2022
44.2% <—- July 2022
43.4% <—- August 2022
53.4% <—- September 2022 https://t.co/smFB8xBuw4— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) September 14, 2022
After Judge got hot in May, pitchers understandably threw fewer pitches in the strike zone for several months.
Teams Should Be More Careful While Pitching To Judge
Why are they pitching to him?
It’s one of the biggest mysteries in all baseball: it just makes no sense.
Throwing more strikes to Judge is ridiculous; not because teams should care or be against him establishing a new American League home run record, but because pitching to Judge leads to bad outcomes and that’s something they should care about.
Last night, Judge hit not one, but two game-tying homers: they came in the sixth and in the eighth innings.
Without him, the Yankees would have probably lost the game.
Given that the rest of the Yanks’ lineup has been struggling, it makes sense for hurlers to pitch around Judge and take their chances with the rest of the offense.
It’s common sense.
Pitch a hittable strike to Judge, and he’ll punish the ball for a home run.
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