Sophomore outfielder Aaron Judge
Dalton Runberg / The Collegian
Aaron Judge came on like a hurricane last season, batting .358 and earning the Louisville Freshman All-American and the Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year awards. College Baseball Insider also named him a preseason honorable mention All-American for the 2012 season.
At only 19, Judge does not look like a player only two years removed from high school. The sophomore stands a whopping 6-foot-7 and weighs in at 255 pounds, a 15-pound increase since last season.
He started in 49 of his 55 games played in 2011, knocking fifteen extra-base hits along with 30 RBI. Judge has packed on the muscle this season in a move that may help improve his power numbers even more.
With the rare combination of power, speed and patience, Judge stole 11 bases on 12 attempts last season, while his patience at the plate earned him 25 walks.
Judge chose to play ball at Fresno State rather than going to play minor league ball straight out of high school when he was drafted by the Oakland A’s in the 30th round of the 2010 MLB draft.
With so much talent, Judge even began working out some pitching possibilities, though admits that may not be a likely move once the season starts. However, he did get some bullpen work in the process.
Judge will more than likely fill the No. 3 slot in the batting order, a major move from the No. 7 slot he held his freshman year. He will be filling Dusty Robinson’s slot, who coincidently was drafted by the A’s in the 10th round, the same team Judge turned down to attend school.
Batting third, Judge will not get easy pitches due to his freshman year success and pitchers will likely be willing to pitch to batters lower in the batting order.
“It’s a team game,” Judge said. “As long as I got good teammates around we’ll do well.”
With the talent that carried over from last year’s WAC regular season and tournament championships, Judge said that this will not be a rebuilding year.
After losing in last year’s NCAA Regional tournament round in two games, Judge and the rest of the Diamond ‘Dogs look to bounce back this year.
“There’s a bad taste in everyone’s mouth about it,” Judge said.
With all the emphasis put into individual statistics, Judge said his focus is on team goals and they are the most important aspect of his game. One of the main goals is to win the WAC, as it’s the Bulldogs’ final time competing in the conference before moving to the Mountain West Conference next season.
“There are not too many individual goals just team goals for me,” Judge said. “I’m going to just try to win the WAC and get on base for my teammates.”