Paul Goldschmidt: Aaron Judge’s production is ‘Barry Bonds-ish’

Paul Goldschmidt: Aaron Judge’s production is ‘Barry Bonds-ish’

It’s not far-fetched to claim that New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is the best hitter in baseball.

On the heels of a unanimous AL MVP honor, Judge is slashing an absurd .391/.488/.739 through 55 games, already blasting 18 home runs with 14 doubles, two triples and 47 RBIs. He leads MLB in each of those aforementioned slash lines while also lapping the field in hits (81) and fWAR (4.7), 1.3 wins better than the next-best qualified hitter (Cal Raleigh, 3.4).

Amid his absurd production for one of MLB’s best offenses, teammate Paul Goldschmidt recently compared Judge to another all-time great.

“What he’s doing is amazing,” Goldschmidt told ESPN’s Jorge Castillo recently. “It’s definitely harder as you get older and you’re in your mid- or late 30s. I think it can obviously still be done and guys have produced at a high level. And I think he can and will do that. It’s like almost Barry Bondish where it’s like he’s getting one pitch to hit a game and he’s hitting it. Everyone knows he’s one of the best, if not the best hitter on the planet.”

Depending on who you ask, Bonds is regarded by many as the best hitter in MLB history. What never gets old is looking at Bonds’ 2001-04 baseball reference page; in those four seasons, his slash line was .349/.559/.809 while averaging 52 home runs and 110 RBIs. His plate discipline was among the best that any of us have ever seen, drawing an average of 189 walks to just 60 strikeouts in that span. That’s beyond absurd.

Judge has more swing-and-miss than Bonds, but both players can send any baseball 400-plus feet at the crack of the bat in any direction.

It’s not crazy to say that the two-time MVP is on pace to have one of the best seasons ever for a hitter.

I don’t think it’s fair to assume that he continues to hit .391 with a 1.227 OPS, but those marks would rank T-16 and No. 15, respectively, all-time for the over 11,000 hitters that have logged at least 500 plate appearances in the live-ball era. His 239 wRC+ would the fifth-highest ever–including the highest for a player not named Bonds or Babe Ruth–while his 13.8 fWAR pace would be the second-highest ever.

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If you dislike or hate the Yankees (most of you probably do), I wouldn’t expect you to do what I’m about to say: We’re watching history, so embrace it. If you don’t want to, I won’t blame you. But we’re watching isn’t normal, so take in as much as you can while you can.

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