The New York Yankees’ offence is looking much better than it was at any stage last season.
The formal games that count have not yet begun, but with the names at manager Aaron Boone’s disposal, there is a lot of confidence surrounding the lineup.
When two generational hitting talents like Aaron Judge and Juan Soto lead the way, good things happen.
They are not just terrific hitters, but also elite athletes.
That can be measured to some extent using Wins Above Replacement, or WAR.
WAR is a measure of how much better or worse a player is than a replacement-level player in terms of wins.
According to predictions, Judge and Soto will be in the top three in MLB by the end of the 2024 season.
“Juan Soto and Aaron Judge are predicted to rank second and third in MLB in position player WAR, according to Steamer. Yankees duos will rank top three in position player fWAR in a season: “Charlie Keller + Joe Gordon, 1942; Lou Gehrig + Babe Ruth, 1926-28, 1930-32; Gehrig + Joe DiMaggio, 1937,” MLB statistics expert Sarah Langs tweeted.
If Judge and Soto perform as projected and remain relatively healthy throughout the season, they will become the fourth Yankees tandem to rank in the top three in position player fWAR (the “f” represents FanGraphs’ interpretation of the stat).
As you can see, no Yankees duo has done this since 1942, and we’re talking about a team loaded with all-time greats.
There is more to an offence than simply two hitters, but the expectation is that the duo’s ability and output will create opportunities for other batters to join in.
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