Before the Yankees’ miserable season came to an end, Aaron Judge told reporters that he felt the organization may be valuing the wrong “numbers” when it came to certain statistics, and during the GM Meetings earlier this week, Brian Cashman revealed what numbers Judge felt should be weighed more heavily.
When asked what numbers Judge had been referring to, Cashman said, “I asked him about that, and he talked about RBIs and batting average,” via NJ.com.
Batting average and RBI have been valued less by major league clubs in recent years, as Cashman himself stated publicly years back that the Yankees no longer saw batting average as a crucial statistic when evaluating player production. But he added on Tuesday that the stats Judge brought to him are “important.”
Batting average, in the wake of the analytics revolution in baseball, was seen as an older and less reliable stat due to all hits being made equal when calculated, leading to stats like OPS being valued more. But, as the game tries to turn back the clock with no shifts, quicker games, and more balls in play, perhaps more traditional stats could make a comeback.