Last season, Aaron Judge set the world of baseball on fire with his path to breaking the American League single season home run record. On October 4th, he broke the record with his 62nd home run of the season. As a result, SCA Promotions proudly fulfilled a $50,000 claim.
Looking ahead to the 2023 season, Judge recently signed a nine-year, $360 million contract with the Yankees. There were rumors of Judge leaving New York, possibly to join the San Francisco Giants.
But Judge’s monumental accomplishments have solidified his place in Yankees history. Along with the new contract, Judge is now the 16th Yankees captain in the team’s history. Judge follows Derek Jeter in joining a coveted club, its members including Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. The icing on the cake? Eric Adams, mayor of New York City, announced Judge will receive a key to the city.
Judge is 30 years old and performing better than ever before. Can he repeat last season, break his own record? It’s unlikely, but stranger things have happened. Could anyone else break the AL single season home run record this season? Mike Trout came second to Judge last season with 40 home runs. Again, stranger things have happened, but I doubt anyone but Judge could break the record this season.
So, what will this season’s equivalent of Judge’s record be? I think it’d be smart to bet on Corey Seager becoming the American League’s big name.
Seager is a fantastic player and hitter. He won the 2020 NLCS MVP, then became the 2020 World Series MVP after leading the Dodgers to their first World Series in over 30 years. But Seager is a predictable hitter, which means the controversial shift has been working against him.
The shift is ending with the start of the 2023 season. According to Mike Petriello at MLB.com, Seager has faced the shift on 75% of his pitches since 2018.
Without the shift, I think Seager’s first season with the Texas Rangers would have looked a lot more promising. He didn’t have a bad season – he hit a career high of 33 home runs. But Seager’s batting average struggled, and I predict his average will be a lot higher this season.
With SCA Promotions, a conditional rebate has proven time and time again to be a great way to engage sports fans. With the Aaron Judge record, it meant a $50,000 payout. Let’s call it now – Corey Seager will rake this season. And a conditional rebate will create media buzz around his performance.
