Aaron Judge’s plight seen by fans after diabolical Oneil Cruz strike call

Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Oneil Cruz created history with his thunderous home run on Sunday. His home run against the Milwaukee Brewers was measured with an exit velocity of 122.9 mph, the hardest-hit baseball in the Statcast era.

It was his sixth hit of over 120+ mph, enhancing Cruz's stature as one of the most fearsome hitters in the league. His reputation seemingly worked against him on Monday in the series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

During a plate appearance against Arizona ace Ryan Nelson, Cruz withheld his swing on a pitch that was well below the strike zone. However, the plate umpire called it a strike, baffling the hitter and the broadcasters.

Baseball fans reacted to an Instagram post of the controversial strike call, drawing a similarity with calls on Yankees superstar Aaron Judge.

"Ever watch Judge? Happens every game," one fan wrote.

"Now y'all know how Judge feels at 6'9 lmao," another posted.

"Welcome to the Aaron Judge experience," a comment read.

"The Aaron Judge effect," a fan wrote.

"Nothing new to Yankees fans," another posted.

Some fans highlighted the framing of the zone by the Diamondbacks catcher that led to the strike call.

"Horrific call but also a legendary frame job by Gabi," a fan posted.

"All timer frame," another wrote.

The Yankees captain is often framed by catchers on low pitches for strike calls because of their stature.

Oneil Cruz clear of Aaron Judge in hardest-hit baseballs

While Aaron Judge is putting up MVP-caliber numbers for a second consecutive season, the Yankees superstar cannot measure up to Oneil Cruz when it comes to the hardest-hit baseballs.

Oneil Cruz has six hits measured by Statcast with an exit velocity of over 120 mph, compared to Aaron Judge's one. Only Giancarlo Stanton has more hard-hit baseballs, 16 with 120+ mph, than Cruz.

But comparing their all-round abilities, Judge is far ahead of the Pirates slugger and could end up winning his third AL MVP title this year.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash