Can Judge Get Back in the Swing?
As the Series moves to New York, time is running out for the Yankees' slugger.
I realize that this might not be the sexiest way to start a story about the World Series and big moments and the desperate hopes of New York Yankees fans to turn this series around… but let’s start with a little math, specifically a Tom Tango chart.
OK, I realize that many of you are already way ahead of me here… but let’s start with an explanation of that chart. That is a month-by-month breakdown of Aaron Judge’s whiff percentage. That is to say that, starting with his call-up to the big leagues in August 2016, it looks at what percentage of overall pitches Judge swung at and missed.*
*This is different from “whiff rate,” which looks at only the pitches where Judge actually swung at the ball.
His career average, in case you’re wondering, is 15.8%. That’s a high percentage, no doubt about it. Here are a few players’ career percentages, just to give you a little context: