Aaron Judge is Pushing for a Big League Promotion

With six home runs in his last seven games, New York Yankees top prospect Aaron Judge is making a strong case in Triple-A that he’s ready to help the big league club.

With his two-run shot in the ninth inning of Saturday’s 7-3 loss to the Pawtucket Red Sox, Scranton Wilkes Barre outfielder Aaron Judge had homered in three straight games coming into Sunday. Judge, ranked the New York Yankees’ number two prospect coming into 2016 by MLB Pipeline, has been on a tear this month, hitting .337/.461/.687 in his first 102 PA in June. His recent power surge has been particularly impressive, with eight long-balls in his last 12 games as of Sunday.

Even after his miserable struggles in May, Judge has an excellent .259/.345/.467 (135 wRC+) batting line in 310 PA on the season. He’s cut his strikeouts from 28.5% in his first Triple-A stint last season to a more manageable 23.9% this year. His 15 home runs lead the International League. With the Yankees dead last in the American League in slugging percentage and desperate for some thump in their lineup, Judge is looking more and more like a potential impact bat.

With Carlos Beltran expected to leave after the season, Aaron Judge has long been seen as the heir apparent in right field for 2017. His main rival for that job, Aaron Hicks, has put up a disappointing .217/.272/.329 slash in his first season in pinstripes, albeit with sporadic playing time. If Judge keeps up this level of production, he has a real shot to begin the 2017 in the starting lineup for New York. If that’s the plan, the team would probably also be best served by giving Judge an extended look at some point this year.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post recently wrote that the Yankees should consider cutting ties with Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira by the All Star break if they consider to struggle like this. While that would certainly be rash, Rodriguez especially looks like a guy who should not be playing everyday at this point in his career. A-Rod is hitting 223/.264.398 (73 wRC+) through his first 178 PA this season while severely limiting New York’s roster flexibility.

Aaron Judge is projected by Steamer to hit .245/.315/425 (102 wRC+) in the big leagues this year. While that is not superstar quality, it would be a major step up over Rodriguez’s below replacement level production, and that’s before taking into account the major boost he would provide over Beltran’s abysmal defense in right. Judge is a solid fielder with a plus arm, which would be a huge upgrade over the immobile Beltran.

While the general consensus is that there is almost no chance Aaron Judge gets promoted before September, it’s easy to forget that the team shocked fans and pundits by promoting Luis Severino and Greg Bird into key roles in the second half last season. Both players were younger than Judge and began 2015 in Double-A. The lesson we can learn from that is, if Judge is good enough in Scranton, the Yankees will find room for him on their roster. After the month he’s had, I’m sure New York’s brass is beginning to take notice.