NEW YORK — Aaron Judge is making historical past once more, solely this time in infamy.
After all the triumphs of his spectacular common season, the Yankees slugger still had one pesky storyline following him into his seventh profession postseason, and thru the first two video games of the American League Division Series, he hasn't achieved a lot to squash the narrative that he cannot ship in October.
Judge confronted a acquainted backdrop for his first at-bat of the night Monday: 48,034 followers on their toes and screaming their heads off as he stepped into the field. That's what he was used to this season as he tallied the most dwelling runs (58), RBIs (144) and walks (133) in the main leagues. Game 2's scene of hundreds sporting his No. 99 pinstriped dwelling jersey in the Bronx was related to when he recorded the high OPS (1.159) in baseball for the second time in his profession this yr. Even the state of affairs he walked up to was recognizable and sometimes favorable: runners on first and second with no person out.
The one distinction? It's the playoffs.
After two aggressive at-bats from Gleyber Torres and Juan Soto, every hitter drawing 6-pitch walks in opposition to Royals ace Cole Ragans, Judge struck out on 4 pitches and took all the juice out of the constructing with him. It additionally gave Judge the worst strikeout price (34.3%) in MLB postseason historical past amongst hitters with a minimum of 200 plate appearances.
Judge would draw a stroll and attain on an infield single to end the evening 1-for-3. He's 1-for-7 to begin this postseason. When requested after the Yankees' 4-2 loss to the Royals on Monday how he is been feeling at the plate, Judge delivered a line you may need heard from him earlier than.
“If I'm not hitting 1.000, I'm not feeling good,” he stated.
Judge added that he is not pissed off with his outcomes, and he does not imagine the Yankees' bye week tousled his timing at the plate, notably as a result of he made certain to see dwell pitching each day whereas the Bronx Bombers waited for Game 1 of the ALDS.
“I think you can go back in the season and find two games out of the 162 that I go for 1-for-6, or 1-for-7 or whatever,” Judge stated.
But his outcomes thus far in two video games of the ALDS have delivered a reminder that this is not May, when Judge hit 14 dwelling runs in 28 video games. This is not June, when he raised his batting common to .409 and his on-base share to .514 throughout 25 unimaginable video games. This is not August, when he walked 25 instances in 26 video games whereas recording a 1.386 OPS. This is October, the place his profession slash line is .208/.311/.449 throughout 46 video games.
With a minimum of two video games left in the Yankees' season, Judge has a minimum of a handful of at-bats this week to swing out of this broad postseason stoop. Perhaps, he can take solace from the indisputable fact that he is hardly the solely nice hitter to battle in the playoffs. Far from it.
Barry Bonds batted .196 with a .618 OPS, struck out 20 instances, and recorded only one dwelling run by his first 27 profession playoff video games from 1990 to 2000. (He lastly broke out in 2002 with a 1.559 OPS whereas slugging eight dwelling runs in 17 video games.) Hall of Famer Willie Mays hit only one dwelling run and posted a .668 OPS in his playoff profession — although groups would solely play one spherical in the postseason throughout his 25 postseason video games that stretched throughout 20 years. Currently, Mookie Betts is hitless in his previous 22 playoff at-bats. Bobby Witt Jr., the presumptive AL MVP runner-up to Judge, is 0-for-10 with 4 strikeouts on this ALDS in opposition to the Yankees.
“You can never count him out,” Soto stated of Judge. “He's the greatest hitter of all time right now. He's just doing his thing. He struggled a little bit with the fastball today. But I know he's going to bounce back.”
If the relaxation of his profession is any indication, he finally will.
Upon making his MLB debut in 2016, Judge posted a staggering 44% strikeout price over 27 video games. Following an offseason swing adjustment, Judge swatted a document 52 dwelling runs and gained the AL Rookie of the Year award. This April, he had an abysmal begin to the season, batting .178 with a .674 OPS and 4 dwelling runs by his first 27 video games. Five months later, he is a lock to win his second AL MVP award. But even in September, after struggling for the first three weeks and leaving the door open for Shohei Ohtani to win the dwelling run title, Judge responded with homers in 5 consecutive video games whereas ending with the highest OPS+ (223) for a right-handed hitter in MLB historical past.
Judge likes to say that line about hitting 1.000 as a result of it is inconceivable to obtain that quantity all through a season or a postseason, and to give us an concept of the aim — and the stress — he has set for himself. He won't ever cease making changes in the ongoing effort to enhance his recreation. And it isn't prefer it's the stress or the elite pitching of October that is getting to the slugger. Judge has performed by the stress of breaking Roger Maris' American League single-season dwelling run document when he crushed 62 in 2022. He has overcome the problem of enjoying in New York, going by a highly-publicized free company, and following up a $360 million contract by changing into the captain of the Yankees and persevering with to be the identical, nice hitter at the plate.
“That's the fun thing about the playoffs, is that you're facing the best every day,” Jazz Chisholm stated. “And Judge is definitely one of the best. I think he enjoys facing all these guys. I feel like it helps him to mentally get into it, because he's a competitor. We're all competitors, but he's the elite competitor. That's why he does what he does.”
So, chalk up his postseason struggles as one other half of his recreation that he is still bettering; a narrative that he may quickly flip on its head in dramatic vogue. New York heads to Kansas City with this best-of-five ALDS tied at one recreation apiece. There's still time for Judge to rewrite his October story. The Yankees' World Series hopes would possibly rely on it.
Deesha Thosar is an MLB reporter for FOX Sports. She beforehand lined the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
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