Aaron Judge Dominated The 2017 Home Run Derby With A Performance For The Ages

There hasn’t been a rookie baseball player who has captivated the league like Aaron Judge in a few years. (We’ll say since Mike Trout in 2012, because that gives us a chance to link to Trout’s amazing Baseball-Reference page and also because it’s probably true). He is incredible, a massive outfielder for the New York Yankees who launches baseballs into orbit with ease. He’s a good contact hitter too — Judge is hitting .329 this season — but his ability to hit for power is unreal, as evidenced by the 30 home runs and 1.139 OPS that he boasts at the All-Star Break.

Judge will start in the All-Star Game on Tuesday, because he is incredibly good at baseball and has earned a spot in the American League’s outfield. But before he gets there, he had to participate in the Home Run Derby. While there, Judge thought it would be fun to embarrass a bunch of professional home run hitters.

First, there was Justin Bour, a first baseman for the hometown Miami Marlins. Bour hit a super impressive 22 home runs. Judge then stepped up and hit 23. He hit a bunch out of the park, but the most impressive swing didn’t count, because the ball hit the roof instead.

Then, he took on a fellow rookie in Dodgers first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger. While Bellinger had a respectable 12 homers, Judge had 13. Three of those 13 went more than 500 feet. One of them went 504, and the one immediately after it went 513.

In the final round, Judge faced off against Miguel Sano, the Twins third baseman who has hit the cover off the ball this season. Sano hit 10 homers, which for the final round is pretty good. Judge laughed at the puny mortal and hit 11. He did this and made sure there was still 1:53 left on the clock in the 4-minute round.

Judge hit his last homer to center field. In the Derby, you are apparently supposed to pull the ball as much as possible for maximum power. Judge bucked conventional wisdom and frequently deposited balls into center and right field, as evidenced by this chart.

https://twitter.com/MLBastian/status/884585240148291584

That is not supposed to happen. It was proof that Judge is just a freak of nature. This is more proof.

The Home Run Derby rules, and when a guy like Judge is in it, the event is a must-watch.