Aaron Judge is having a Ruth-ian season.
But one guy, former Mets GM and current MLB Network analyst Steve Phillips, goes a step further. He says Judge is even greater than Babe Ruth.
“You look at Ruth, you look at (Roger) Maris in the 61-homer season, I would make the case that Aaron Judge is the best Yankees hitter ever,” Phillips said on Friday.
Phillips used a statistic, batters faced, to show how much more difficult hitting is in the modern era.
He shared that in 1927, Ruth faced 64 pitchers, all but seven of them more than one time. In 1961, Maris faced 101 pitchers, all but 14 of them more than one time.
Judge has already faced 156 pitchers this season, seeing 78 of them just once.
“Familiarity benefited their hitting,” Phillips said. “… (Ruth) faced the same guys over and over again, and the guys he owned, he faced over and over again. Aaron Judge hasn’t faced anybody that many times.”
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After explaining that, Phillips made his definitive statement:
“Judge is the greatest Yankees hitter ever. Ever. What Babe Ruth did cannot compare to what Aaron Judge is doing.”
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A lot of the statistics favor Ruth, to be sure.
Phillips’ point centers around the things statistics don’t all reveal, that every single Judge at bat is harder than what Ruth had to deal with 100 years ago.
This isn’t an argument that’ll make too many old-time baseball fans happy, but it’s a fascinating way to look at it.
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