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Aaron Judge 2022 Player Outlook: If Good Health Maintains, Elite Hitter At A Draft Discount
3 years agoA healthy Aaron Judge is one of the best hitters in baseball, and he showed that in 2021. Judge had his best season since 2017 (when he played a career-high 155 games). He played 148 games last season with a .287 avg, 39 HR, 98 RBI, 89 R and 6 SB fantasy line. Judge's 25.0% K% was the lowest of his career (albeit still in the 25th percentile) while he still maintained an excellent BB% of 11.8% (85th percentile). The Yankees offense as a whole was a disappointment in 2021, otherwise, we'd be looking at someone with a 100+ runs and RBI season. But the thing that has held Judge back and made fantasy managers reluctant to draft him has been health. After playing just 112 and 102 games in 2018 and 2019 respectively, he managed just 29 games in 2020's shortened season so if his new offseason fitness regime he implemented before the 2021 campaign continues to work, there's no reason to believe he can't play 140+ games again in 2022. Judge's ADP is ~42 so still hasn't elevated given it was 53 in 2021 and 41 in 2020. If you secure stolen bases early, Judge offers one of the best power options in the draft and only injury will prevent that from happening.
