Yankees can really use regular-season Aaron Judge right now
Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) reacts after lining out in the first inning during Game 3 of the ALDS against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There comes a time when the label of “postseason flop” really sticks to a player. Especially a great player.
It happened to Barry Bonds before 2002, when he hit eight home runs in the postseason and .471 in the World Series for the Giants.
It happened to Alex Rodriguez before 2009, when he hit .365 with six home runs and 18 RBIs as the Yankees won the World Series.
It is happening now to Aaron Judge.
Going into Wednesday’s Game 3 of the ALDS against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium, Judge was batting .208 in 46 career playoff games with 13 home runs and 70 strikeouts in 207 plate appearances.
Judge’s regular-season stats have him grouped with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. His postseason numbers have him paired with veteran backup catcher Martin Maldonado.
According to StatMuse, Judge’s 33.8% strikeout rate was the second-highest in the postseason, behind only Maldonado (34.2%), who hit .119 in 48 games for the White Sox this season.
You know what Maldonado has that Judge doesn’t? A World Series ring (with the 2022 Astros).
If postseason Judge doesn’t turn into regular-season Judge, the Yankees are going to have a hard time winning the World Series — or even getting past the Royals.
Judge went into Game 3 with one single in seven at-bats in the ALDS with two walks and four strikeouts. In his first three at-bats on Wednesday against Seth Lugo — against whom he was 0-for-8 with four Ks — Judge lined out to short (114 miles per hour), hit a fly ball to the warning track in left, and left two men on with a flyout to center.
Progress?
After the Yankees’ 6-5 victory in Game 1, baseball Hall of Famer and Red Sox postseason hero David Ortiz, on a FS1’s postgame show panel with A-Rod and Derek Jeter, said he thought Judge was expanding the strike zone in the playoffs.
“I resonate with that,” Rodriguez said, “because before ’09, I was doing exactly the same thing. I would have a great strike zone during the season and then I felt some of the pressure and I would expand my strike zone. I see a little bit of that with Judge.
“But in ’09, I changed everything, and I said, ‘You must come to me. I’m going to trust Derek, I’m going to trust (Johnny) Damon, and especially (Hideki) Matsui, who was hitting behind me.’ I think that’s exactly what Aaron Judge can do.”
That has been the theme around the Yankees. That Judge can’t do it alone, and doesn’t have to do it alone, and his time will come because he’s just that good.
But time runs out real fast in the postseason.
“At the end of the day, it's all about the whole team,” Juan Soto said before Game 3. “We can't lean on one player, that he's going to do everything for us to take us all the way. We’ve got to do it as a team.”
Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City’s uber-talented young shortstop, will probably finish second to Judge in the AL MVP voting. Witt went into Game 3 hitless in 10 at-bats in the series and extended that to 0-for-12 (with five strikeouts) in his first two at-bats Wednesday night.
It’s true that Judge doesn’t necessarily have to carry the Yankees on his broad shoulders. But wouldn’t it be better for them if he did?
"If I'm not hitting 1.000, I'm not feeling good,” Judge said after the Yankees’ 4-2 loss in Game 2. “Just got to keep getting on base for the guys behind me. If they get on, I’ve got to drive them in.”
According to MLB.com, Judge’s personal hitting guru Richard Schenck traveled to Kansas City for a fix-it session.
Hey, the Yankees should welcome whatever gets Judge to the other side of his current malaise. They say they aren’t worried.
“I feel like everybody goes through tough games,” Soto said. “Everybody knows it’s part of the game. It's part of the life of baseball. But no, I don't think he has any pressure. I think he's trying his best . . . I have really a lot of thoughts on him that he's going to come out and show people who he is.”
Who Judge is is the probable 2024 AL MVP, even though the ballots haven’t been counted yet. Remember, the voting doesn’t include postseason performance. Just the regular season, which Judge owns.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.