Aaron Judge

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by packs

I guess I just don't know why people don't want him to be good. There are some really pessimistic posts in this thread about a guy with a feel good story who's liked and respected by pretty much everyone in baseball. I admit I never thought he'd play as well as he has, but now that he's succeeding all I want to do is root for him.

I root for him too--a very smart, humble guy who is good for the game. I watch every Yankee game televised on Fox Sports, ESPN or MLB in my area just to cheer him on. The reason for his downturn lately is that the pitchers have found a hole with balls breaking down and inside to him (good lefty sliders and righty changeups) plus he is chasing sliders breaking down and away to some extent again (a la last year) and even occasionally chasing fastballs above the letters. His chasing of pitches should be curable, but the vulnerability to pitches breaking in and down to him may well be a consequence of his inability to recognize what these pitches are, and present a more serious problem in the long run.

While I root ardently for him to succeed, I certainly wouldn't buy his cards now, since as I've stated before, their current high level of demand (and hence prices) is of a speculative and transient nature. Also, since he is already 25, it may prove difficult for him to put up significantly high career numbers to even remotely justify those prices later. Buy him during his 30's downturn if he still looks good then career-wise.

Happy collecting,

Larry