Twins' fine for pitching to Aaron Judge: Home run, of course

Aaron Judge is crushing homers at a rate never before witnessed in the American League and is the runaway MVP pick this season.

The rest of the Yankees’ lineup? Take a look at the batting order manager Aaron Boone scribbled together for the Labor Day matinee against the Twins.

Here’s a snapshot: Jose Trevino hitting fifth, Oswaldo Cabrera sixth, Isiah Kiner-Falefa seventh.

The first question that comes to mind is, where the heck is everybody? The answer is home on the couch (post-epidural Anthony Rizzo), nursing an achy toe (DJ LeMahieu) or scheduled for surgery (Andrew Benintendi’s fractured wrist).

The next question? Why would a pitcher throw anything in the strike zone to Judge these days?

So after watching Judge hit his 54th homer and a double in the Yankees’ 5-2 victory and “pretty much singlehandedly beat” the Twins, as starter Chris Archer described the slugger’s impact, we decided to ask precisely that.

Take Twins reliever Trevor Megill — the brother of the Mets’ Tylor. Judge entered Monday having hit seven homers in his previous 12 games, batting .366 (15-for-41) with 13 RBIs and a 1.393 OPS. The Yankees’ supporting cast had done virtually nothing over that span, and Judge was “protected” Monday by Giancarlo Stanton (.339 OPS since his return) and Josh Donaldson (hitting .219).

Earlier Monday, Judge ripped a first-inning double off Archer and scored on Donaldson’s drive off the leftfield wall (he somehow was thrown out at second).

Later in the sixth, it was Megill’s job to preserve a 2-2 tie, and he immediately gave up a leadoff single by Gleyber Torres.

Here comes Judge. So now what? In Megill’s case, he throws him three sliders in the first four pitches — one for a called strike — and then finds himself in serious trouble. A 3-and-1 count is no place to be with Judge in 2022. But rather than try to lure him outside the zone, Megill throws another slider, this one at 87.9 mph, and it arrives belt high, middle of the plate, batting tee height. Of course Judge blasts the pitch into the second deck in leftfield, a 404-foot shot, and the Yankees go in front to stay, 4-2.

“It makes it tough when you fall behind in the count, that’s for sure,” Megill said. “And then you throw four sliders in a row to a guy, he’s going to see it pretty good on the fourth one. It was just a situation where I had to throw a strike, trust my pitch, and he won that battle. It’s just going to be whoever executes the best.”

That just doesn’t seem like the wisest plan of attack against Judge these days. Not with a hurting Stanton behind him, or a downgraded Donaldson, or whomever Boone decides to go with from a shrinking list of options. And the more pitches that Judge sees, the greater the danger. Would it really be the worst idea to nibble at the corners and try to get Judge to chase?

“I’m not gonna walk Judge and put two people on,” Megill said. “Obviously, people argue against that, but I hate walking people.”

And there you have it. For those wondering if Judge is going to catch (and surpass) Roger Maris’ 61, Megill spelled it out. As long as pitchers continue to challenge Judge, they’re going to pay the price.

For a pitcher, two runners on is preferable to a two-run homer, but Judge isn’t complaining.

“I try to stay locked in throughout every single at-bat,” he said. “That’s fun. That’s what it’s all about — seeing how mentally tough you can stay to be locked in, get a pitch to drive, get a pitch to do something with. If not, pass the baton and watch the guy behind you drive them in.”

Better for the Yankees if Judge keeps the baton himself, and Archer had to consider it a moral victory to limit him to the grassy side of the fence during the first inning. Archer started him with a pair of 94-mph fastballs, and with the count 1-and-1, he threw a 90-mph slider at the bottom of the strike zone. The pitch got the middle of the plate, however, and Judge slapped it into the gap in right-center for a double.

“First of all, you respect what he can do,” Archer said. “And he is a guy you don’t want to let beat you. But you still have to be competitive, you still have to be in the strike zone. The homer and the double we gave up, we should have just executed better. He is human. If we execute to the best of our abilities, we like our chances. If we don’t, then it slides into his favor.”

The rebuttal? The Yankees have eight other hitters in their lineup. Those are the humans. Judge is on lease from Mount Olympus. Continue to pitch to him at your peril.

By David Lennon

dave.lennon@newsday.comDPLennon

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.