Coming off a season that saw him fall well below his offensive outputs in 2017, the year of 2018 for Aaron Judge was something that can best be described as forgettable. Lacking that true lineup protection with Giancarlo Stanton also having a down season, Judge was forced to take on more of the offensive workload and in turn, played in only 112 games.
For Judge, it is not hard to understand what needs to be done. By improving his health and numbers while decreasing his strikeouts is easy to look at in a nutshell, but hard to carry out, especially with how long Judge has faced these same issues. Through a more developed lineup, however, the 2019 version of Judge could very well return to his career highs set back in ‘17.
Getting back to, at a minimum, 40 home runs should not be out of the question for the New York Yankees slugger, and he will be asked to make many more improvements than that.
Here are three bold predictions for Judge going into the 2019 MLB season.
Judge will set a career high… in strikeouts
A crutch for his entire MLB career so far, Judge has dealt with a case of the strikeouts and lack of plate discipline. While still young in his career, this will plague him for as long as he plays unless he fixes it now.
2019 will not be that time.
Wanting to get back to who he is as a player and his expected production levels, Judge will become over-confident at the plate, throw caution to the wind and try and hit everything thrown at him, to no avail. If pitchers catch onto this early on, he will be difficult to count on as the season progresses. He will eclipse his 208 K’s from 2017.
While Judge is in line for a rebound season, 2019 will see improvements in most areas, but just not in terms of strikeouts.
Judge will barely miss hitting .300, and that’s okay
Even with having a down season last year, Judge still hit .278 across 108 starts, which is a solid number for a player stricken with strikeout-itis. While he still will not reach the .300 threshold, coming even closer to it will be a step in the right direction.
His best average is .284, which he again had during his 2017 season. Judge will surpass that after a hot start to the season, a bit of a regression going into the All-Star break but will come on strong and help lead this team into the playoffs come August and September.
Hitting .293 sounds like an achievable number for Judge in 2019, even with his strikeout numbers.
42 home runs, 106 RBIs, 86 walks, 5 steals and his best defensive performance
Known for his offensive abilities, Judge has gained on critics when it comes to defense. He has put in more time on that end, and he has made progress towards becoming a serviceable glove out in the field.
While not in Gold Glove territory anytime soon, Judge is in line to hone in his defensive abilities in 2019 for the Yankees, giving them a much more solid defensive approach across all outfield spots. With the newly-extended Aaron Hicks in line to have a breakout year, pairing him, Judge and Stanton together in the lineup will be a feared grouping at the plate.
Improving upon 2018 is going to be key for Judge, and he can do that only if he goes back to basics and relies on what got him into the show. He needs to improve upon his plate discipline, and while 2019 has the makings for being a step back in that regard, he is lined up for his future to remain to get brighter and brighter every season.
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