The batter who hit a batting average of 0.197 '63 Home Run Face' and Judge 50-51 Exploded...He's breaking his own record in 2 years
Aug 26, 2024
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Judge is poised to surpass the 62 home runs set by him two years ago in the American League (AL), the most in a season. Judge played as the third center fielder in the home game against the Colorado Rockies at Yankee Stadium on the 26th (Korea time) and led the Colorado Rockies to a 10-3 victory by hitting two hits, three RBIs and two runs in four at-bats, including two home runs.
In his first at-bat with one out and one out in the bottom of the first inning when trailing 0-1, Judge turned the tide with a two-run shot in the left-center. He rolled up an 82.5-mile changeup from a two-strike to Colorado left-hander Austin Gomber's fourth pitch to the low zone outside the left-center fence. Launch angle of 27 degrees, batting speed of 106.7 miles, and distance of 431 feet.
The second home run came in the bottom of the seventh inning when the close game continued. The Yankees widened the gap to 5-3 with Juan Soto's solo home run to right-center after one out.
Judge then hit a fastball in the middle of opposing right-hander Jeff Criswell's first pitch of 95.4 miles and crossed the right fence. The parabolic ball, which drew a large parabolic ball at a launch angle of 38 degrees and 103.3 miles, fell just over the fence and 377 feet. Even Giancarlo Stanton, the next batter, beat Criswell with a solo home run over the middle, and the Yankees widened the gap to 7-3 with three consecutive home runs.
Judge, who hit his 50th and 51st home runs in a row this season, calculates that if he substitute his current pace into 162 games, he will hit 63.1 home runs. He can break the record for the most AL season he set in 2022. Judge, who played his 38th multi-homer game in his career, left several records in the home run category.
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In addition, Judge became the fifth player to make a 50-homer season for the third time after 2017 and 2022, when he won the AL Rookie of the Year with 52 home runs. Earlier, Babe Ruth (1920, 1921, 1927, 1928), Mark Maguire (1996-1999), Sammy Sosa (1998-2001), and A-Rod (2001, 2002 and 2007) marked more than three 50-homer seasons. However, except for the players who led the steroid era, Judge should be considered the second after Ruth.
Judge's home run pace in the second half is explosive. He has hit nine home runs in the last 10 games, including four consecutive games from the 21st to the 24th, and added 12 in 21 games in August. He has 17 homers in 33 games in the second half.
Judge's batting sense, which had a batting average of 0.200 for the month of April, has returned to a steep rise since bottoming at 0.197 on May 3, regaining his home run king's strength. At the time, Judge "If we supplement some problems, we can soon get back on track."After showing confidence, he marked a batting average of 0.361, 14 homers and an OPS of 1.397 for one month in May, and peaked in June with a batting average of 0.409, 11 homers and an OPS of 1.378.
But Judge doesn't seem interested in home run records. After hitting his 48th home run of the season against the Cleveland Guardians on the 23rd, he expressed his will to win in an interview with local media, saying, `If you go to the playoffs and taste the emotion of wearing the winning ring, those (home run) records will look great.'
Judge marked a batting average of 0.333 (153 hits in 459 at-bats), 51 homers, 122 RBIs, 104 runs, an on-base percentage of 0.465, a slugging percentage of 0.736, and an OPS of 1.201.
The Yankees, who finished the three consecutive games against Colorado with a 2-1 winning series, marked 77-54 and maintained the AL lead.
jhno@sportschosun.com
