Blue Jays pitchers happy they don't have to face both Juan Soto and Aaron Judge on Yankees this season

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Juan Soto and Aaron Judge have often been described as “a unicorn" throughout their big-league careers.

Meaning, what they do with a bat in their respective hands is unique.

It’s what made Soto and Judge batting back-to-back last season a unicorn as well. And it’s a combination — according to a Newsday sampling early Saturday morning of three Blue Jays starters who faced the pair throughout last season — that opposing teams will be all too happy not to have to deal with again.

“It was just two completely different game plans you’d have to have to face those two,” said righthander Chris Bassitt, who went 2-0 with a 0.73 ERA in two starts against the Yankees last season. “Obviously, Judge is a world-class righty and Soto’s a world-class lefty. If you did well against one, you’re probably not going to do well against the other one.”

Righty Kevin Gausman, who went 0-2 with a 9.98 ERA in four starts against the Bombers in 2024, said there was a pick-your-poison element to facing the duo.

“I mean, it’s tough,” said Gausman, who allowed three of Judge’s 58 homers last season. “Anytime you have two MVP-type caliber guys back-to-back, it definitely creates challenges…whoever is kind of hot or whoever’s not, [it’s] kind of pick and choose who you’re going to face.”

As in, pitch to.

Both players earned their share of walks — Judge 133 and Soto 129 — but both were pitched to plenty, too.

Enough for Judge to drive in 144 runs and Soto to hit a career-high 41 homers to pair with 109 RBIs.

Righthander Jose Berrios, who went 1-1 with a 5.25 ERA in two starts against the Bombers, called the Judge-Soto combination “special.”

“Everybody knows they’re two of the best hitters in the game,” Berrios said. “We enjoy competing against those kinds of hitters because you know, ‘I have to be at my best.’ We know if we miss a pitch, they’ll do damage.”

As one opposing bench coach said during the winter meetings of facing the pair: “There was nothing like it.”

“You literally sat in the dugout with the thought, ‘When are those two [expletives] coming up again?’ ” the coach continued. “Sometimes it seemed like they were coming up every freaking inning.”

He also referenced the constant pressure felt in the dugout, which extended, naturally, to whomever was on the mound.

“There’s always a premium of getting the bottom of the lineup out and, obviously, getting the leadoff guy out,” Bassitt said. “But when you stack Judge and Soto together, if you don’t get the bottom of the order out, you’re almost screwed. It was just a lot of stress when it comes to facing that lineup because you knew who was coming. Even when they weren’t coming, you knew they were coming.”

Said Gausman: “You definitely knew where you were at in the lineup. You kind of just think about how it sets up the next inning because you might have to face those guys, or you might not, if you get through this inning, especially [thinking about it] later in the game.”

Blue Jays manager John Schneider said, “Just the combination of on-base and then home-run potential from those two was really tricky to navigate.”

Not surprisingly, the navigational plans took up a fair amount of pregame preparation. The Blue Jays had to do it on 12 different occasions last season.

“When are they coming up again, [you’re] definitely aware of that,” Schneider said before the Blue Jays' 6-4 Grapefruit League victory over the Yankees on Saturday. “That was kind of the pregame talk is, who do you want to face those guys after the starter? How many times do you want your starter to face them? And really focusing on that part of the lineup with your leverage arms.”

None of which is to say the feeling around the Blue Jays is that the Yankees’ offense got worse.

“I don’t think any one of us here are sitting here thinking, ‘Soto’s gone, the Yankees are going to stink now,’ ” Bassitt said with a smile, while mentioning the additions of Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger, as well as the potential of Jasson Dominguez and continued development of Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells. “The pieces that they added…they’re still a contender and they’re going to be a really, really good baseball team. Just because Soto left doesn’t mean our guard’s down with them.”