Is it a slump or a market correction?

Last night, the official 2017 Moment of Shit - the one we've long dreaded - finally arrived: 

Aaron Judge's batting average dipped below .300. 

It came with a pop up. Lately, Judge has been hitting them in bunches. The YESsirs assure us it's a common slump - he'll pull out, he'll heat-up, not worried, he's taking pitches, he's getting good wood, he's squaring the bat, he's bearing down, he's acting presidential, yattayatta... But that beautiful, magnificent June - back when Judge was chasing the triple fucking crown! - has turned into dog-day, melted Popsicle August, and if you look closely, a few leaves show tinges of yellow. For three wondrous months, we flew above the clouds. We enjoyed a ringside seat to a Ruthian performance - 30 HRs and .340. The hell with Trout and Harper; we had the lodestone, the lock for Cooperstown, the best damn player in baseball.

He still could be. His numbers still look fearsome. But the pop-ups keep coming. They used to be doubles. Over his three year minor league career, Judge batted .278. If his final 2017 average ends up there, I'll take it. Because the truth is, we still don't know if we're watching a slump or a market correction. Did MLB pitchers find his Achilles heel? If so, can he re-adjust?

In that vein, Judge is following Gary Sanchez, who last year put up MVP numbers that simply could not be sustained. Sanchez now looks like a .250 hitter with 30-HR capabilities, and a few defensive quirks behind the plate. That's still all-star material. Again, I'll take it. But it's not Johnny Bench. 

One reason why teams usually take two or three years to rebuild is that young players must find their talent ceilings. They need time. Our emerging nucleus - Judge, Sanchez, Severino, Gregorius, Hicks - took several seasons to evolve. With the exception of Sanchez, who burst out like a lion, the others pretty much stank at first. Remember Didi's mental errors? Severino's horror show? Hicks was awful, and Judge struck out 40 percent of the time. That's not to mention the continuing failures of Greg Bird, Tyler Austin, Rob Refsnyder, Mason Williams, Slade Heathcott... To develop a young core, a franchise needs to be committed to youth over several seasons. 

Right now, we're seeing it with Clint Frazier and Tyler Wade. Frazier's average is plummeting by six or seven points per at bat. Last night, he left two game-changing runs on third. Wade is barely hitting his weight. Yet both need to play. Their futures are too bright to be pissed away in Scranton, a la Refsnyder, or traded for nothing, a la Ben Gamel. They need time. An August pennant race is a bad time to be grinding on them. 

Next year, presumably, we will unveil infielders Miguel Andujar (.330 at Scranton) and Glyber Torres (.309), and maybe OFs Jake Cave (.376) and Billy McKinney (.343), who have re-established themselves. (Obviously, way too many outfielders.) They'll all need half a season to get acclimated. Same with pitchers Justus Sheffield and Chance Adams. They'll need innings. If the Yankees were out of the 2017 race, this could have provided that adjustment period. 

Don't get me wrong: The 2017 Yankees are going for broke and - hell, yeah! - they should be in the mix. But the kids need to play. I guess I'm especially wondering if Todd Frazier - .207 - is going to play the rest of the way, while Andujar rots in coal country. Balancing a long term Yankee plan with the immediate pennant race remains the biggest challenge facing this franchise. I just hope we don't lose sight of it. Because you know what? Even with a pop-up, Judge DOES look presidential.