Yankees: 3 Reasons Aaron Judge is Better Than Pete Alonso

2. Aaron Judge’s OBP

Aaron Judge has perfect on-base skills for a modern MLB star.

Pete Alonso is a “grip it and rip it” slugger torn from the front page of a 1998 sports section. Aaron Judge is like if that same front page went to Billy Beane’s Moneyball academy.

Though neither player is particularly averse to the strikeout (Alonso whiffed 183 times last year, and Judge managed 208 in his last full season), Judge sacrifices far less in terms of both average and OBP to hit his home runs.

Alonso hit .260 with a .358 OBP in his rookie year, which is nice, but Judge routinely hits for a higher average, and posts OBPs well over 100 points above his batting average, indicating he’s much more adept at finding first base by any means necessary. In his breakout 2017 campaign, Judge hit .284 and got on base at a remarkable .422 clip — clearly, his strikeouts were not for naught that year.

In his last two campaigns, Judge has been on a similar pace (.278 and .392 in 2018, .272 and .381 in 2019).

Once again, it’s simple if you want it to be: Alonso good, Judge better. It’s right there in the digits.