ALCS Game 1 saw some stunning display of fielding by the Yankees on Wednesday night. Outfielder Aaron Judge is best known for his offensive skills, but he showed off his athleticism early in the game. But the game ended with the Yankees losing 4-2 to the Houston Astros.
Early on, Jeremy Pea’s double to left field and Yordan Alvarez’s walk put two Astros on base against Yankees starter Jameson Taillon. This gave Alex Bregman a chance to drive in a run and went for it by hitting the pitch to right-center field. The crowd in the ballpark thought the batter had perfectly chosen a gap, which was going to assure him at least a double, and if luck permitted he might have a triple.
But Aaron Judge had other plans, and the Yankees‘ right fielder made a great diving catch that stopped the Astros from scoring the first run of the night and the series at Minute Maid Park. Take a look:
Statcast figures out the “catch probability” by looking at several things, like how long the ball stays in the air and how far a fielder has to run to make a play. According to it, Aaron Judge had a 25 percent chance of catching the ball that Bregman hit. But the outfielder did a superhuman effort to make it 100%.
Statcast also rates outfield catches on a five-star scale, based on how likely they are to be caught. A “five-star” catch is the hardest of the bunch, with a chance of being caught 25% or less. During the regular season, Aaron Judge had 22 chances to make a “five-star” catch, but he failed at every single one. In other words, Aaron Judge saved his best catch of the season for the first game of the ALCS. At least, that’s how this method works.
Anthony Rizzo tried to take over the offense
While the Yankees’ offense faltered on Wednesday night, Anthony Rizzo tried to bring them back in the ALCS Game 1. He ended up with a 387-foot homer that led to a 1-for-2 performance. In the eighth inning, he drove a Rafael Montero fastball 387 feet to right field, but the Yankees were unable to complete the comeback. The 33-year-old first baseman has kept up his strong baserunning throughout the postseason. He has a.480 OBP after going 6-for-19 with four walks and two hit-by pitches.
Rizzo has a difficult opponent in southpaw Framber Valdez in Game 2, but over the past two seasons, he has actually performed better against left-handed pitching than against right-handed pitching overall.
Can Aaron Judge compensate fans with his defensive skills while failing to hit big in the ALCS?
