Yankees end of year mailbag: Questions and comments from readers

Honorable Mention

For the rest of the year, most of us became fans and spectators. The only comment worth pausing at was made when I suggested Judge might win the AL MVP, in a piece entitled, Yankees 2017 MVP and the rest of their regular season awards.

I enjoyed the discussion about eventual and deserved winner Jose Altuve but was surprised at the push back against Judge as even the Yankees MVP.

"Corky • 3 months ago There is one important stat that has been somewhat overlooked. Close and late. Aaron Judge is hitting .215. Jose Altuve is hitting well over .400. That should be a valuable MVP metric. Judge is a very dangerous hitter, but as I have stated before, he hits the vast majority of his home runs during innings one through five, or in blowouts either ahead or behind. Still he’s a very exciting, dynamic player and his at bats are electric no matter what he does."

"SteveB • 3 months ago I’m with Corky on his opinion of Judge, but I suspect that as he gains more MLB experience he will learn how to relax himself in clutch situations. With the game on the line I want to see Didi, Gardner or Sanchez at bat, in that order, preferably with Ellsbury or Judge as the key baserunner. Yes, I said Judge on base. He has really impressed me with his ability to “read the play” as a baserunner. The broadcasters don’t usually mention this."

It is hard to argue against Didi as the best person to be at the plate with the game on the line. Still, while Judge might not always do damage with his bat, his team-leading OBP makes him the first person I would want up in a key ninth inning, followed by Didi.

Of course, we all just sat back and enjoyed the ride the Yankees went on, with little but observations to make. I will not review the article, but I must admit I predicted the Yankees would lose to the Indians. Please see Jack Marshall’s comments above for how I feel about that one.