Call Yankees' Aaron Judge 'Mr. May,' but in a good way

SAN FRANCISCO — Aaron Boone, like most professional coaches and managers, rarely strays from the mundane.

But the manager of the Yankees, now in his seventh season, does occasionally strike verbal gold with something memorable.

Boone’s “we’re hell-bent on being a champion” comment from his spring training kickoff media availability would be one example.

Another came May 2 in Baltimore.

After the Yankees lost three of four to the AL East favorite Orioles, Boone was asked for roughly the 575th time about Aaron Judge’s slow start.

The centerfielder had gone 1-for-13 in the series, dropping his batting average to .197 and his OPS to .725.

“Somebody’s gonna pay big-time,” Boone said. “He’ll get it going, and look out when he does.”

Opposing pitchers have been paying ever since.

In the 25 games following Boone’s comment, Judge hit .379 with 12 homers, 12 doubles, a .500 on-base percentage and a ridiculous 1.431 OPS. And that was before he followed his first-inning single on Friday night with his 19th home run of the season, a three-run shot in the third . . . and his 20th, a 426-foot shot to center in the sixth.

Judge entered Friday night against the Giants — the team the Bay Area native grew up rooting for and nearly signed with as a free agent two offseasons ago — hitting .273 with an MLB-leading 18 homers, 45 walks, a .617 slugging percentage and a 1.020 OPS in 58 games. And then he added to those totals.

“The fact that we’re in May, and all the questions about the slow start, and you look up there and the season he’s having,” Boone said Thursday after watching Judge hit his 12th homer of the month in an 8-3 victory over the Angels. “Just a special player doing special things.”

The month of May, which came to a close Friday, certainly has been that.

With that homer Thursday, Judge became the second player in franchise history to hit at least 12 doubles and 12 homers in a calendar month (joining Lou Gehrig, who did it in July 1930). And then he made it 14 homers in May on Friday.

Those 14 homers came in a span of  83 at-bats and 24 games.

“He’s pretty good, wouldn’t you say?” Thursday’s winning pitcher, Carlos Rodon, said with a half-smile. “Not many people do that. That’s why he’s the captain.”

Alex Verdugo used the word “crazy” to describe Judge’s month, and not just because of the numbers (though, of course, they’re a big part of it).

“It was more of the consistency of barrels and how hard he hits the ball in every direction,” Verdugo said. “That’s what it is for me. He was hitting balls 105 [mph] oppo [opposite field], 115 pull side, 112 up the middle. He’s hitting balls real hard everywhere. Not only that, but also the way he controls his at-bats each and every time and really swings at what he wants. For me, very, very hard to do in a month. Some people, it’s almost their whole season. It just speaks to the kind of player he is and the dynamic he brings.”

The person least impressed with Judge’s month of May?

That would be Judge, which has been the case with the outfielder when it comes to any of his accomplishments ever since he debuted in August 2016.

“Good month,” he allowed of his work in May. “Let’s try to repeat it next month.”

Judge went 1-for-5 Thursday with the homer but struck out his other four times at the plate. Not surprisingly, that was his focus afterward.

“After four strikeouts today, still a lot of work to do,” he said with a smile. “Like I’ve been saying, doesn’t matter how you start. You’re always going to have good months, bad months. Try to stay consistent and it’s all going to work itself out. So it’s been a good month with a lot of wins. Happy about that, and we’ll keep it rolling in June.’’

Notes & quotes: The Yankees and Mets, who rarely have been trade partners over the years for all of the obvious reasons, swung a minor deal Friday, with the Yankees sending catcher Luis Torrens to Queens for $100,000 . . . Among the members of the four-man umpire crew in this series is Hunter Wendlestedt, who ejected Boone five pitches into a game against the A’s on April 22 at the Stadium. Wendlestedt, the plate umpire, threw him out because of something yelled by a fan sitting directly behind Boone’s dugout position. Wendelstedt will not work the plate in this series. He was at third Friday night, meaning he’ll be at second base Saturday and at first base Sunday.