NEW YORK — Aaron Judge is the best hitter in baseball and in a few weeks, he’ll win his second AL MVP award in three seasons. When he’s on, seeing him walk to the batter’s box is an absolute nightmare for opposing pitchers.
Unfortunately, when the calendar flipped from September to October and the Yankees have needed him the most, Judge has been largely absent. And as the Yankees return to the Bronx, they need Judge to wake up or watch their season come to a bitter end in the World Series against the Dodgers.
The Yankees’ captain is struggling mightily as his team faces a 2-0 series deficit and it appears baseball’s leader in home runs has begun to press.
“I’ve definitely got to step up, I’ve got to do my job,” Judge told reporters after Game 2. “Guys around here are doing their job, getting on base. I’m failing them, [not] backing them up. We’ve got to turn it around.”
Judge has not had an October to remember fondly, hitting .150 (6-for-40) with two home runs, seven walks and a whopping 19 strikeouts. Swing-and-miss is always going to be part of Judge’s game and he had 171 strikeouts while putting together one of the best seasons by a right-handed hitter ever.
The problem is those strikeouts and no prodigious power aren’t accompanied by a 1.159 OPS that he carried during the regular season.
What makes Judge special is that when he’s on, getting him out in the strike zone is impossible. The only hope a pitcher usually has is hoping he expands the zone. This postseason, he’s expanding significantly more than he was during the regular season.
“Look, I think swing decisions are part of it. I think everyone’s different in how they get loaded and started and on time, and then your swing comes out,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after Game 2’s 4-2 defeat. “It’s that, and that all results — when I was asked about Anthony [Rizzo], what’s different about him in the playoffs, he’s getting into a good move, and now he’s in a strong position to make good swing decisions.
“That’s ultimately what hitting is about, it’s getting in the best position to make a good swing decision but also be in a strong position to get a good swing off. Everyone’s different in how they do that, and I think he’s working through that a little bit right now.”
The Dodgers have been doing a good job of getting ahead in the count on Judge and once they’ve gotten him to two strikes, whether it was Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s splitter, Jack Flaherty’s curveball or Blake Treinen’s sweeper, Judge has been going down swinging.
One of the things that makes Judge’s struggles even more frustrating is that Gleyber Torres (.389 OBP) and Juan Soto (.460 OPB) have both done a great job of getting on base, setting the table for both he and Giancarlo Stanton.
The October woes aren’t uncommon for Judge. In 55 career postseason games, Judge owns a .199/.304/.436 with 15 homers and has struck out in over 40% of his 211 postseason at-bats.
As Judge and the Yankees prepare for Game 3 on Monday night, the time for baseball clichés is over. Yes, baseball is hard and the pitching in the postseason is even better than during the regular season. But the reality is the Yankees will not win the World Series with their captain playing like he has been. And now that they face a 2-0 series deficit, that pressure only increases.
“It definitely eats at you,” Judge said. “You want to contribute and help the team, but that’s why you gotta keep working and keep swinging. I can’t sit here and feel bad for myself. Nobody’s feeling bad for me.”