BY MIKE RIFKIN
As we enter the final weekend of the MLB season, there is a lot to be determined including who is the American League MVP. There will be three finalists at the end, but everyone knows that this is a two horse race between Mariners Catcher Cal Raleigh and Yankees Outfielder Aaron Judge.
Judge is the reigning MVP and has had an outstanding season, going into the final weekend Judge has 51 homers and 109 RBI’s along with a slash line of .328/.455/.681. Judge most likely will be a batting champion for the first time. My biggest question for managers across baseball is why they kept pitching to Judge?
Raleigh is having a historic season. Entering the final weekend he has 60 home runs ( two shy of tying Judge’s record) and 125 RBI’s. Raleigh’s slash line is .241/.361/.598. So, Raleigh has the better power numbers and not by much and Judge has the better slashline. Ironically enough the Yankees and Mariners are the top two home run hitting teams this season.
So offensively both guys have been studs and defensively both do their thing. But there’s a number that sticks out to me and that number is 11. The Seattle Mariners are 11th in MLB in team ERA at 3.87. We have never seen this offensive outburst from a catcher before. Now, is it fair to penalize Aaron Judge for not playing a particular position? No, but Raleigh is also at a sort of disadvantage with the Mariners not being on a similar scale to the Yankees.
Aaron Judge is one of the faces of baseball, while Cal Raleigh is a really good player. But we’ve never seen this kinda season from a catcher and the Mariners have clinched the AL West. Now, while the Yankees don’t know whether they won the AL East or will enter the playoffs as a wild card, what Aaron Judge has done over the years is absolutely insane. I’ve heard people say we might take it for granted. I disagree we haven’t seen something like what Judge is doing since Barry Bonds.
This is going to be close to call, except for one part whoever the third finalist is they’ll be a distant third. Either way in the race between Judge and Raleigh I lean towards Cal Raleigh. 60 homers doesn’t happen every year and especially from a catcher.
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