New York Yankees' Rookie Aaron Judge Takes MLB By Storm, Leads 2017 AL MVP Candidates

There isn’t much argument regarding which player is the AL MVP a month into the 2017 MLB season. Aaron Judge has been the league’s best player, putting up staggering statistics and making the New York Yankees look like legitimate World Series contenders.

Even the most optimistic Yankee fans couldn’t have predicted this from Judge, who wasn’t on the radar as a potential MVP candidate in spring training. The likes of Mike Trout, Manny Machado, Mookie Betts, Jose Altuve and Josh Donaldson were considered to be the frontrunners for the award.

Judge wasn’t even the favorite to win Rookie of the Year, as Boston’s Andrew Benintendi was almost the unanimous pick among experts around baseball. But no one has had the same impact as the 25-year-old after the season’s first few weeks.

Bovada.lv gives only Trout and Francisco Lindor better odds to win the AL MVP award at the end of the season.

Through 25 games, Judge has easily been the AL’s most dominant hitter. After hitting two more home runs in a victory Tuesday night, the right fielder leads the league with 12 homers, 26 runs scored and a .795 slugging percentage. He ranks first in WAR (2.3) and OPS (1.219), and his .424 on-base percentage is in the top-five. Judge is also hitting for a .313 batting average.

The Boston Red Sox were expected to have the AL's best offense in 2017, and the entire team has only five more home runs than Judge. The San Francisco Giants aren't too far ahead of Judge with 18 homers.

Judge’s success hasn't come completely out of nowhere. He’s been one of the Yankees’ top prospects over the last few years, and he certainly looks the part. Standing at 6’7 and weighing 282 pounds, there might be no more intimidating presence at the plate in all of baseball.

These kinds of numbers, however, weren’t supposed to happen in 2017. Maybe in 2019 or even 2018 if he came along quickly, but Judge was far from a finished product when he made his MLB debut last season.

Hitting a home run in his first-ever plate appearance, Judge finished the 2016 campaign with a .179 average in 84 at-bats. The power wasn’t there, either, as he totaled just four long balls and a .345 slugging percentage, striking out 42 times. Judge’s season ended early due to an oblique strain, and he didn’t reach the requisite number of at-bats for it to be considered his rookie year.

Judge wasn’t guaranteed a starting spot in the Yankees outfield, but he won the job over Aaron Hicks with a strong spring training. Making adjustments from last year, Judge looks to be a completely different player.

“For me, it’s about location and staying aggressive,” Judge said on MLB Network Tuesday night after New York’s 11-5 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. “A little bit last year, I was tentative and didn’t go up there aggressive trying to attack my pitch that I could drive. I was more see the ball then swing instead of knowing the ball is gonna be where I want it and attacking it. So this year I’m just trying to stay aggressive and use the middle of the field.”

In just one less at-bat than last season, Judge has cut his strikeouts down from 42 to 26. He’s nearly doubled his walk total with 15 free passes, and he’s found the right balance of being aggressive and laying off pitches out of the strike zone. Only 15 players in all of MLB see more pitches per plate appearance than Judge.

I present you: Aaron Judge's all 12 home runs so far in 2017...to the Titanic theme song. #Yankees pic.twitter.com/FRZcbUmJ8Z

— Sung Min Kim (@sung_minkim) May 3, 2017

The Yankees haven’t won a playoff game since 2012, and they’ve been making moves with their eyes on the future. The team didn’t spend big money in the offseason, hoping to watch their young players improve while potentially being competitive. With three players that have never played a full season in the starting lineup, Judge was probably saddled with the lowest expectations of the “baby bombers.”

Catcher Gary Sanchez hit 20 homers in just 53 games last year, while first baseman Greg Bird was the AL’s best player in spring training with a .451 average and eight home runs. Neither player has made much of an impact in 2017 because of injuries and early-season struggles, while Judge has become must-see TV.

Judge might have more raw power than anyone in the big leagues, given that he has the longest average distance for home runs since being called up last summer. He’s blasted two homers of more than 450 feet in 2017, and five of his long balls have gone at least 425 feet.

It’s fair to say that Judge will cool off at some point. Only Alex Rodriguez in 2007 hit more home runs for the Yankees in the team’s first 25 games, and he won’t maintain his 78-homer, 162-RBI pace.

But it might not be too early to say the Yankees have found their next star, and New York’s expectations for 2017 should change because of it.

The Yankees are tied with the Baltimore Orioles atop the AL East at 16-9. The Houston Astros and Washington Nationals are the only MLB teams with better records.

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