By now, in 2022, analysts and even some fans have come to understand that in MLB, stats such as batting average and RBI are not necessarily great to evaluate offensive talent.
OBP and slugging percentage, for example, paint a different picture and do help us determine who has performed well and who hasn’t.
OBP includes both batting average and the ability to draw walks: the plate discipline element.
Slugging, meanwhile, tells us if the hits that a certain batter has been accumulating carry some punch or power.
In both stats, New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is far and away ahead of the league.
OBP and SLG for all MLB hitters with 500 PAs 👇 pic.twitter.com/oQaTbtPtmi
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) September 29, 2022
For the season as a whole, Judge is slashing .313/.425/.696 with 61 home runs, 130 runs, 130 RBI, and 16 stolen bases.
Head And Shoulders Above The Competition
Those numbers scream MVP: even though Ohtani has performed like an ace on the mound and has been a terrific middle-of-the-order masher for the Los Angeles Angels, Judge is reaching historic levels of offensive excellence.
According to that useful graph, only Yordan Alvarez and Paul Goldschmidt come relatively close to Judge in both OBP and slugging, and there is still a sizable difference (particularly in the slugging).
This is logical when you post a slugging percentage that flirts with .700.
In addition to tying the American League record for most home runs over a single season, Judge is competing for the AL’s hitting Triple Crown and the MVP award.
Oh, and his Yankees are also going to the playoffs, with the World Series being a real possibility.
2022 may go down as Judge’s best year, but a lot of that will depend on the next few weeks.
For now, we can firmly say that there is no hitter like him in the majors.
