For New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, March and April were terrible at the plate. May was a bliss and earned him American League Player of the Month honors. June has been more of the same so far.
What changed?
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“It seems like every season I have one of those months where things don’t go your way,” Judge said in a recent interview. “It was tough having it in early April, especially with the type of team we have and how good we are. Hopefully this won’t happen again for the rest of the year.”
In his first 31 games, Judge hit .207 with six home runs, six doubles and 18 RBIs.
The judge said in April that lingering damage from the torn ligament in his right big toe from last season could be the reason. He was even booed at Yankee Stadium, even though he understood the fans’ reaction, he said.
“I have work to do, and especially in New York you have to show up every day.” Judge said. “And I didn’t show up, so I understand there were a lot of questions, and now it’s over.”
Well over.
In his next 28 games through May 31, Judge hit .361 with 27 RBIs, 14 home runs and 12 doubles. The last two figures broke a Yankees record for home runs and doubles in a single month: Lou Gehrig hit 12 and 12 in July 1930.
That’s some intoxicating company.
It continues in June with another home run, bringing his total this season to 21, leading Major League Baseball. His OPS was .754 at the end of April and is now a gaudy 1.084, also tops in the MLB. His OPS+ stands at 203 this season; the competition average is 100.
“That’s why he’s the captain,” Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón said.
Judge is on track to become the fastest player to hit 300 home runs; he hit 278 home runs in 897 career games. The fastest is Sammy Sosa, who hit 300 home runs in 1,052 games. Judge, at age 32, has 56 games to hit 22 home runs, a pretty fast pace.
Judge and teammate Juan Soto has led the team in spectacular fashion to a 42-19 record in first place, 2 1/2 games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East.
“They’re impressive,” said San Francisco Giants manager Bob Melvin, whose club was defeated by the Yankees in a three-game weekend series at Oracle Park. The series also served as Judge’s homecoming to the Bay Area; he grew up in Linden, California, about 90 miles to the east.
“You dream about it in the backyard, kind of playing,” Judge said Friday night after hitting a pair of home runs at Oracle. “As I was going around the bases, I was looking out to left field, standing in the stands a few times. It just brought back some memories.”
Last year, Judge was rolling at Dodger Stadium until June 3 when he ran into a right field gate while making a catch, injuring his toe.
The centerfielder hit .291 with 19 home runs and 40 RBIs before getting injured and missing 42 games. After returning, he hit .245 with 18 home runs and 35 RBIs as the Yankees finished 82–80, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016. His declining numbers continued through the start of this season.
Judge’s current level of play is what the Yankees wanted and expected when they signed Judge, then a free agent, to a nine-year, $360 million contract in 2022 — the largest in team history — and made him a team captain, the first since Derek Jeter .
“When he’s locked up like that, it’s just different,” Yanks manager Aaron Boone said.
Judge isn’t built for gloating. He homered and struck out four in an 8-3 victory May 30 over the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium, preferring to dwell on the smells, not the homer. He and Soto scored five of eight points.
“There’s still a lot of work to do,” Judge said. “As I always say: it doesn’t matter how you start. You will always have good months and bad months. Try to stay consistent and everything will work out fine. It was a good month with a lot of wins, and we want to continue it in June.”
The oft-injured righty had a 2022 season for the ages, breaking Roger Maris’ team and American League record with 62 home runs. That year he also led the league with 133 runs scored, 131 RBIs, a .425 on-base percentage, a .686 slugging percentage, a 1.111 OPS, a 210 OPS+ and 391 total bases. His .311 batting average put him just shy of the Triple Crown.
Judge was named American League MVP when his contract expired and the Yanks outbid the Giants and San Diego Padres on the free agent market.
With the captaincy and big money came much more responsibility, and Judge has maintained a close relationship with Yanks principal owner Hal Steinbrenner.
Judge and Steinbrenner met often during the offseason. On Judge’s recommendation, Steinbrenner retained Boone as manager. It was Steinbrenner’s decision to retain Brian Cashman as general manager. It took until November for these decisions to be implemented. Cashman then made the deal with the Padres to acquire Soto, who helped reshuffle the team.
The Yanks are so impressed with Soto that they will try to keep him as a free agent this season, although the club is aware that he wants a deal well above what Judge is making. Preliminary discussions between Steinbrenner and agent Scott Boras are expected to begin soon. Soto says he is open to all suitors.
It looks like Judge is doing well. The two top the American League lead in on-base percentage (judge at .422 and Soto at .418) and they are a big reason why the Yanks lead the MLB with 90 home runs and hit .255 as a team to beat.
“We just raise each other,” Judge said. “I watch his at-bats and get a lot of information. I don’t mind him walking. I don’t mind him hitting homers. I don’t care what he does. It is a joy to watch day in and day out.”
The same can be said about Judge.
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