Aaron Judge could see action in left field this season
The Yankees announced that there is a possibility that Aaron Judge could see time this season in left field this season after exclusively playing right field and center field in his career.
In Judge’s seven MLB seasons (27 games after being called up late in the season in 2016 and 28 games played in the 2020 Covid season were his two seasons of less than 30 games), he has played 562 games in right field and 102 games in center field. He played 78 games in center field in 2022, 23 games in 2021 and one previous game in center field in his career. He actually was not able to win a Gold Glove in right field last season since he played five more games in center than he did in right field.
It likely will not be much of a transition for Judge since he played very well in center field the last two years. If he can play well in right field and in center field then he will be a very reliable left fielder as well.
This can only be a positive since it would allow an outfield configuration to be Judge in left field, Harrison Bader in center field and Giancarlo Stanton in right field. Stanton has said that he is most comfortable and feels like he performs better when he is playing in the outfield somewhat regularly, so the Yankees should have him in the outfield about 50–60 games this season.
Stanton last season played more regularly in the outfield in the first half of the season and was an All-Star and then didn’t play outfield as regularly in the second half and did not perform as well.
This is what manager Aaron Boone said about Judge playing left and Stanton playing right: “I am open to that, especially in the home ballpark,” Boone said. “It is something that I am at least considering and we will just see how that goes.”
Judge has expressed interest in playing left field since he wants to get Stanton more time in the outfield. This seems very likely to happen since Judge has interest in it and Boone saying he is “at least considering” basically means it is something that he intends on doing. Boone does not see Stanton as an option in the spacious left field but right field is the more realistic option since there is not as much ground to cover for him.
Judge actually started more games in center field than right field last year, so at times Judge could play center with Bader getting an off day and Stanton could play right field. Judge actually volunteered to Boone to play left field, which makes a lot of sense since the Yankees did not acquire an upgrade at the left field position in the offseason, so he is aware that he could improve that position when he is out there.
Stanton last season played his most games in the outfield with the Yankees since the 2018 season. In 2018, he played 37 games in right field and 36 games in left field. He was 28 that season and in first season with the Yankees but this season he is 33 and in his sixth season with the Yankees and in his 14th MLB season.
In 2018 he played 72 games in the outfield, in 2019 he played just 13 games in the outfield, he was only a designated hitter in the Covid shortened 2020 season, he played 26 games in the outfield in 2021 and last season he played 34 games in right field and four games in left field. Since the 2020 season he has primarily been a DH, but he has said that he believes that his performance at the plate improves when he is getting semi regular time in the outfield.
Stanton played 65 game at designated hitter and started 38 games in the outfield last season. He played much better the first two months of the season, which was when he played in more games in the outfield. In April, he had a .269 average in 78 at-bats with four homers and 14 RBI. In May, he had a very good .301 average in 73 at-bats with seven homers, 21 RBI and a great .388 on-base percentage.
His average the remaining months of the season got much worse since he had a .285 average at the end of May but then he finished the season with a .211 average. After having a .301 average in May, he had a .176 average in 74 at-bats in June, a .156 average in 64 at-bats in July, a .130 average in 23 at-bats in August and a .143 average in 77 at-bats in September. He had some success to finish the season since he was 4–9 with three homers in the last three games of the regular season in October.
Even though he had just a .176 average in June, he did have a productive eight homers and 17 RBI in that month and finished the first three months of the season with 19 homers and 52 RBI. This led him to being an All-Star for the fifth time in his career and first time with the Yankees. Stanton hit a two-run home run in the 4th inning, which led to him being named All-Star Game MVP.
The last Yankee to win All-Star Game MVP was Mariano Rivera in 2013, which was when he was in his last season of his Hall of Fame career, and this was one of his 13 All-Star Game selections. The last Yankee before Rivera to win All-Star Game MVP was Derek Jeter in 2000. Jeter went 3–3 with two RBI. That 2000 All-Star Game was his third consecutive All-Star Game and one of his 14 total times as an All-Star. There are only 14 players all time with more All-Star selections than Jeter, and Hank Aaron has the most with 25.
However, after June in the next three months and three games of October Stanton had just 12 homers and 26 RBI. For the season, he finished with just a .211 average and a .297 OBP while also having 31 homers.
Stanton very much slumped in the second half of the season, batting .151/.246/.336, and against power pitchers, he batted.156/.248/.313. He had the slowest sprint speed of all Yankees at 24.5 feet per second.
This can only be a positive since it appears that playing the outfield more consistently throughout the season could prevent his big decrease in production the second half of the season. If he is able to play about 130 games and is the designated hitter for about 75 games and plays the outfield for about 55 games that will be a very good ratio and would likely mean that he will not have a steep decline in his production like last season.
On September 20 at Yankee Stadium, in a 9–8 win over the Pirates, Stanton hit his third career walk-off grand slam. This was the same game that Aaron Judge hit his 60th homer, which tied Babe Ruth on the all time single season list.
Judge playing in left field shouldn’t be much of a transition at all. That will be ideal since right field is best for Stanton since it is best to limit the amount of ground for him to cover in the outfield. Stanton did prove last season to be a very capable and reliable outfielder.
This increased amount of time could lead to his average and on-base percentage being closer to the .273 and .354 it was in 2021, which would be a good improvement after finishing last season with a very low .211 average and .297 OBP in 110 games.
It is realistic for Stanton to bounce back with a season similar to his 2021 season, which could lead to him being an All-Star again and staying consistent throughout the second half of the season. He will likely have a stint of two to three weeks on the injured list but it will be a good sign if his time on the injured list does not last longer than that, which is why it will make sense for Boone to give him some “rest” days this season like he will probably to with Judge as well.
