Monster Card Monday: 2017 Aaron Judge

judge

This is the third Monster Monday card from the 2017 season.  I may have to take a break from the new set after this.  Courtesy of David Hawkes, it features Yankee right fielder and AL Rookie of the Year Aaron Judge.

As a rookie, he is most certainly a favorite to go very high in APBA league rookie drafts.  I know the Illowa APBA League is assuming that he’ll be gone very soon.

Judge hit the 50-homer mark with a total of 52.  I remember a time when that was barely untouchable (George Foster, anyone?). His numbers like 24 doubles, three triples and 52 homers remind me a bit like Mark McGwire’s.  He hit .284 with 128 runs and 114 rbis.  With Judge’s slugger profile, it’s a bit surprising that he led in runs not rbis.  He came in 2nd to Seattle’s Nelson Cruz’ 119 rbis.

Judge also led the AL in walks with 127 and he earned most of them.  Only 11 were intentional.  Alas, he also led the league in strikeouts with 208.

Season Totals
Split G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG
2017 Totals 155 678 542 128 154 24 3 52 114 9 127 208 .284 .422 .627
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/5/2018.

Remember when I mentioned Mark McGwire earlier?  Judge’s card is somewhat similar to McGwire’s 1998 card. Granted, McGwire’s has an extra 1 but the point I’m trying to make is this… sluggers with a high ratio of homeruns to doubles are given 1s and 5s and not 6s.  Judge’s power numbers of 1-1-5-5 should give him a good representation of his power (depending on where he is batted in the lineup).

A .284 hitter with a 44-8?  And a 25-9?  What’s going on here?  Well, take into consideration that Aaron Judge’s 2017 card has six 14s thanks to his league-leading 127 walks.  That will help his OBP (and his batting average).    Judge has a couple extra 13s but that is to be expected from his actual 208 strikeouts.

The tough call here is where to bat Aaron Judge’s 2017 card in the lineup for the maximum effect.  You’ll want someone on base, of course but those 13s won’t do you any favors in moving the runner along.

Finally, it’s worth mentioning that Judge is an OF-3.  When I was a kid, most sluggers were rated OF-1 and 1B-2.  Definitely a bonus!

thanks, David!

Thomas Nelshoppen

I am an IT consultant by day and an APBA media mogul by night. My passions are baseball (specifically Illini baseball), photography and of course, APBA. I have been fortunate to be part of the basic game Illowa APBA League since 1980 as well as the BBW Boys of Summer APBA League since 2014. I am slogging through a 1966 NL replay and hope to finish before I die.

5 Comments:

  1. Since he was an XB last year, Aaron Judge was drafted #86 in last year’s TBL draft.

  2. Well just a hint here, he ain’t going first in our draft. FYI it looks almost exactly like Dave Kingman’s 1979 card.

  3. Like Kingman’s card maybe – except for the 3-OF. It would take “Kong” three seasons added together to achieve an OF-3 ha ha! Actually, surprised that Judge is a “3”.

  4. Hi Chuck,

    I don’t think it would take THREE seasons, maybe 4 or 5. After all, he’s no Adam Dunn.

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