In the first half of the season, Yankees rookie Aaron Judge hit .329/.448/.691 with 30 home runs and a 198 wRC+, while setting himself up as the obvious AL Rookie of the Year and MVP front runner for 2017.
Oh, he also won the Home Run Derby.
Unfortunately, the second-half of his season hasn’t quite gone as well – at least, so far. Through his first five games (25 plate appearances), Judge has just one hit, a single, and four walks which is good for a -37 wRC+ (to be fair, he was robbed of a homer at Fenway just two nights ago). But that doesn’t mean offense is the only way he can help his team win.
In the bottom of the third inning last night, Judge unleashed an absolute ROCKET from right field to nab a speed Brian Dozier at the plate for a bases-loaded double play.
Check it out:
That throw was right on the money and kept the Yankees within a run for the time being.
But it wasn’t just a super accurate throw. According to Statcast, Judge’s throw was a ridiculous 97.7 MPH, because, apparently, Judge can’t do anything at half-speed.
Take a look:
Your browser does not support iframes.
Judge’s 7 defensive runs saved rank tied for 13th in Major League Baseball this season, and his 1.8 ARM rating is top 20. Clearly, even when he’s not producing at the plate, he can influence a game.