When Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees take on Bobby Witt, Jr. and the Kansas City Royals in the American League Division Series this weekend, one of the major storylines will be quite familiar for fans who have followed baseball during the 2024 regular season. Who is better? Aaron Judge of the Yankees or Bobby Witt, Jr. of the Royals. The two players sit atop the Major League Baseball leaderboard in WAR and have for most of the season. Judge is number one with 11.2 WAR in Fangraphs version, and Witt is number two with 10.4. How the two players arrived at their league-leading metrics couldn’t be more different.
The Power Case for Aaron Judge
Over the course of the season, Aaron Judge has been perhaps the most feared hitter in the AL. Shohei Ohtani wears the crown for all of baseball but is in the National League. Judge finished the season with a slash line of .322/.458/.701. Fifty-eight times Judge went deep to make the highlights on SportsCenter. But equally impressive is his 144 RBI, 122 runs, and league-leading 218 wRC+. Just for the fun of it, Judge swiped ten bags. Imagine the terror of a 6’7”, 282 lb. behemoth barreling into your base if you’re a normal-sized infielder.
Most of Aaron Judge’s value comes at the plate. Despite the occasional highlight of a giant centerfielder robbing a home run, number 99 is a defensive liability. In the field, Judge accounted for -9 defensive runs saved. Other public-facing defensive metrics like ultimate zone rating are kinder but still point in the direction of a below-average fielder. Aaron Judge’s value is when lumber is in his hands.
The All-Around Case for Bobby Witt, Jr.
The value of the Royals’ shortstop is difficult to pinpoint because Witt is so good in so many areas. On the season, Witt hit .332/.369/.588 with 32 HR, 31 stolen bases, 125 runs, and 109 RBI. He doesn’t walk that often (8% BB%) but also doesn’t strike out that much (15% K%). A Bobby Witt, Jr. at bat usually culminates in the ball in play somewhere.
Playing the premium position defensively, Witt also excels with the glove. The ultimate zone rating metric is kinder to Witt than DRS, but both are positive. Witt has improved each year in the field in his three years in the majors. His DRS has gone from -18 to -6 to a positive 2. UZR tells the same story, as it has gone from -6.5 to 0.2 to 2.7 this year.
Yankees versus Royals ALDS Should Be Fun
No doubt, during the Yankees and Royals series, the venerable Bob Costas will wax poetic about the spectacular feats this season of both Aaron Judge and Bobby Witt, Jr. Baseball has always exalted its stars by quoting numbers and drawing comparisons among players. While Judge and Witt won’t actually face each other (it’s not the nature of the sport), the spotlight will be shining brightly on the two when the New York Yankees host the Kansas City Royals in the ALDS on Saturday and for the best three out of five games.
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