CttP #8: Aaron Judge struggles, Giancarlo Stanton asterisks, D-Backs threats

Welcome to the eigth episode of the Call to the Pen flagship podcast! New episodes Monday and Wednesday. Today Jon discusses the pointlessness of asterisks in baseball, specifically concerning Giancarlo Stanton and his possibly-historic season mashing home runs, as well as the struggles of Aaron Judge since the All-Star Break, as well as early favorites for sustained postseason success.

Host and FanSided contributor Jonathan Platek today discusses and breaks down the recent struggles of Yankees slugger Aaron Judge. Being beyond the point of a fluke over a handful of games, it is time to break down and decipher just what is causing or enabling the young star’s struggles at the plate, as his power output has finally dipped beyond what can be considered acceptable.

Jon also discusses the use of and call for asterisks any time a player supposedly unaided by performance enhancers (not necessarily of the drug kind) makes a run at history. This time, the crosshairs are set on Giancarlo Stanton, the first “clean” hitter—as many would say—to make a run at a season had by the likes of Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGwire.