MLBRT 8/1/2024

The questions and discussion…

1) On Saturday Aaron Judge hit his 37^th HR and is now on pace to slug 57 for the season.

As the Second half progresses, and the Yankees make a push for the playoffs, will Judge stay hot to not only be a driving force to get the team into the playoffs but in the process also break his own AL HR record of 62 HRs for a single seson? Why or why not?

Aaron Judge now has 39 HR in 110 Yankees games played.

This put him on pace for almost 57 home runs this season.

But if you isolate him from his early season slump, in the 75 games since May 5th, he has hit 33 home runs. That is a .440 HR/game pace. If he keeps hitting HRs at that pace then he would another 22 or 23 HRs to his present total putting right around 61 0r 62 HRs for the season. What the hell… I’ll say he gets on a little stretch where he gets a little extra hot and he gets to at least 63 HRs for the season, breaking his own AL Record.

Not for nothing but if he didn’t have his slump in the beginning of the season and he started hitting his HRs at the pace he is hitting them currently he would have been on track to hit about 71 HR or just two shy of matching Barry Bonds’ MLB record 73 HRs.

Maybe next year.

2) Staying with Judge…

Presently (as of Sunday morning/7/28), Aaron Judge leads MLB with 95 RBIs along with a .314 batting average.   

He is currently on pace to not only hit 57 homers for the season but is also on pace to drive 145  or more RBIs.

Is the AL MVP award his to lose or does he have competition for the award? Why or why not?

Very simply the only way I see Judge losing the AL MVP is if he would go on a prolonged slump similar to what he was in prior to May 5. If that should happen and he stopped putting up the stats that he is presently compiling then that would open the door for maybe either teammate Juan Soto or the Guardians Juan Ramirez  to sneak in and snatch the AL MVP award away.  

Frankly I don’t see that happening… barring injury, Judge should be a shoo-in for the AL MVP award this season.

3) Shohei Ohtani as of Sunday morning (7/28) leads the NL with 32 HRs and a .318 batting average and has 76 RBIs which is second in the NL to Marcell Ozuna’s 82 RBIs.

Does Ohtani eventually take over the RBI lead by season’s end while keeping his lead in HRs and BA to win the NL’s first triple crown since the Cardinals’ Joe Medwick won the Triple Crown in 1937? Why or why not?

As of this morning (8/1) Ohtani’s totals in the three categories needed to win the Triple Crown are… .309 BA, 32 HRs and 76 RBIs.

Hitting in the Dodgers’ lineup has provided Ohtani with some protection and teams have had to challenge him more than when he was in the Angels lineup which has led him to having the best batting average of any season he has played so far in his MLB career. So, with Ohtani hitting well-above his career average and the Dodgers being fourth in league scoring he should get plenty of opportunities for him to catch and pass Ozuna in RBIs as the season continues. 

So he has a decent shot at being a Triple Crown winner this season.

However… looking at the statistical standings, Marcell Ozuna… the current NL RBI leader… has a  shot at being a Triple Crown winner himself.

I’ll delve into the two players numbers a little deeper in my answer to the next question.   

4) As with Judge, is the NL MVP award Ohtani’s to lose or does he have competition for the award? Why or why not?

Ohtani winning the NL MVP award is not as sure thing as many believe it might be, in my opinion. In fact his chances at winning the Triple Crown isn’t a sure thing either.

If you look at his numbers and then at Marcell Ozuna’s numbers, Ozuna is right on his butt in all three categories…

Ohtani: .309 BA (1^st in NL), 32 HRs (1^st in NL) and 76 RBIs (2^nd in NL).

Ozuna: .301 BA (5^th in NL), 31 HRs (2^nd in NL) and 84 RBIs (1^st in NL).

Frankly in my opinion the NL MVP award right now is a two-horse race between Ohtani and Ozuna. It will most likely come down to which player avoids any slumps in the remainder of the season for who wins the MVP in the NL.

As for whether either player could wind up winning the Triple Crown…. It’s a possibility. But I wouldn’t bet on it happening for either player in my opinion.  

5) The MLB trade deadline is July 30…

Which team (or teams) made the best deal to enhance their playoff run? Why? 

In the NL the Dodgers improved their lineup by adding an elite center-field defender in Kevin Kiermaier and a front-line starting pitcher in acquiring Jack Flaherty. But they still have holes.

The Padres who are just 4½ games behind the Dodgers in the NL West, and currently the second Wild Card, did well in improving their bullpen by adding Jason Adam, Tanner Scott, Martin Perez and Bryan Hoeing.

In my opinion he Dodgers did well to get the players they did to help their chances of winning the West.

But then the Padres did just as well in getting the players for their bullpen that they acquired to enhance their chances not only to be in the playoffs but to have a real shot at winning the West.

It should be a very interesting in the NL West as the season winds down and the playoffs get closer.

Extra Innings…