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For the 2nd half of the 1920s, Judy Johnson was in the argument as the best 3B in baseball, hitting for average with a little power and producing consistent, gold-glove level defense at the hot corner. Outside of those years, the defense remained excellent, and the offense was, at worst, a bit below league average. Johnson had some speed but, while he didn’t strike out a lot, also didn’t draw very many walks.

That’s quite a career, and while perhaps his enshrinement in the HoF is a bit of a reach (although he is far from the worst player there), he was an excellent ballplayer who should have seen many all star games and, in 1924 and 1925 especially, been in the MVP conversation.

We added years for him in 1919 and 1920, but that’s it.

I could see a few things changing in future revisions: first, it may be that Johnson was a little better offensively than the current projection; second, his career ends pretty abruptly, and a few more years tacked on into the mid 1930s is quite feasible. Finally, I am not sure the offensive mix is quite right: I have focused on the evidence of him having some pop in his bat, but a model with a higher BA and less power is also plausible. But all of that are tweaks: this general shape, plus world-class defense.

Batting Projections

Pitching Projections