Stats show just how reliant Yankees are on Aaron Judge

New York Yankees star and reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge has been a force of nature at the plate pretty much every year since his arrival. 

This season, Judge is hitting .321/.443/.656 with 43 home runs and an OPS of 1.099. He leads all of baseball in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS despite seeing his legendary production dip after suffering an elbow injury that required a brief IL stint.

Judge has long been the driving force behind the Yankees' offensive success. This begs a very interesting question: Where would the Yankees be without him? 

Let’s delve into some relevant Yankees stats by comparing the team's overall numbers this season vs. its numbers without Judge's contributions and the MLB averages for each stat. The stats for the Yankees without Judge's contributions and MLB average for AB/HR are via Stats Perform.

New York's numbers are alarming without Judge 

The one stat where the Yankees truly shine is home runs. Despite having only one hitter besides Judge with 30 home runs — Trent Grisham with 30 — the Yankees would still be first in AB/HR (the average number of at-bats per home run, with lower numbers better). This has boosted their overall power numbers, giving them an above-average slugging percentage and OPS. However, the rest isn’t that good.

Cumulatively, the rest of the offense lags in batting average and on-base percentage, though the drop in OBP without Judge is baffling. This isn’t to say there aren’t any bright spots in either of these stats. Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, Grisham, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Giancarlo Stanton, Ryan McMahon and Jasson Dominguez all have OBPs at or above .328. The real area where the Yankees struggle is in batting average. Judge, Goldschmidt and Bellinger are the only Yankees above average in both metrics.

It seems most of the underperformance came from those no longer on the roster, such as Oswald Peraza and J.C. Escarra, among others. However, the bottom-of-the-order bats, such as Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells, still pose concerns and have weighed on the team’s cumulative stat line. 

But regardless of their current trends in on-base percentage, the goal for each contender is to be well above average in most stats, and aside from power numbers, the Yankees just aren’t. 

Every contender should be a team consisting of solid, reliable contributors. No playoff-bound team should be completely dependent on one player. Without Judge, the Yankees are moderately above average at best, not a great look for a team that is reliant on its potent offense. This, of course, raises obvious questions about their lineup depth in the postseason. 

Judge has posted sub-.200 batting averages in each of his past two postseasons. If this playoff slump continues, this will only add more weight on the other Yankee hitters and could prove detrimental to their World Series aspirations. 

If the Yankees are going to make it to the Fall Classic for the second time in as many years, they will most likely need Judge to perform like his typical MVP self.