Aaron Judge is the Captain of the New York Yankees and is without question one of the most beloved players in all of baseball.
However, as we’ve seen time and time again over the years, no one is safe from the Bronx boo birds.
The Yankee standard is sky-high and if you’re not performing, you will certainly hear about it … It doesn’t matter how big of a star you are or what you’ve accomplished – no one is immune to being booed … Just ask Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.
Despite the Yankees racing out to a solid 15-8 record, Judge has been one of the worst players on the entire team.
Hitting just .174 with 3 home runs and 11 RBI’s in 82 at-bats, Judge has stumbled out of the gates to say the least.
It got so bad on Saturday that the sellout crowd of 47,629 at Yankee Stadium let the boos rain down on Judge following his fourth strikeout of the game … The Yankees would go on to lose to the Tampa Bay Rays 2-0 in 10 innings.
Ironically, it was Aaron Judge Bobblehead Day at Yankee Stadium, which made the scene that much more surreal.
But again, no one is immune to the boos – and to Judge’s credit, he is fully aware and understanding of that.
“I’ve heard worse, and I’d probably be doing the same thing in their situation,” Judge said after the game.
Saturday’s lifeless day at the plate marked the 10th time in Judge’s career that he struck out four or more times in game.
We all know how long the Major League Baseball season is. Every single player goes through slumps throughout the course of the year.
Having said that, there has to be at least a shred of concern about how slow of a start Judge is off to.
Judge signed a 9-year, $360 million deal just a year ago.
Considering the fact that he’ll be turning 32 years old this coming Friday, it’s safe to say that contract won’t be looking too pretty come the final years of it.
Realistically, you have to imagine Judge will soon get back on track … He certainly isn’t panicking over his uncharacteristically slow start.
“It’s still early. It’s a long season but just missing the pitch,” Judge said. “If I get a pitch in the zone, I got to capitalize on it because I don’t get many and usually that’s what it comes down to – don’t miss your pitch when you get it – and take your walks when you’re not getting anything.”
There’s some concern that Judge may be dealing with nagging injuries that are taking a toll on his body. Knowing how important he is, the Yankees certainly hope that isn’t the case.
Judge isn’t making any excuses and has made it clear that he intends to keep on grinding away.
“I’ve had seasons where I’ve started off worse than this through my career,” he said. “It’s just you got to keep working, keep improving and you’ll get out of it.”
Yankees manager, the ultra-loyal Aaron Boone, is sticking by Judge and is fully confident that he will soon break out of his slump.
“It’s a hard game,” Boone stated. “We can go back in the history of time and great players go through a little funk. I’m not worried at all. It’s Aaron Judge.”
Like Boone said, this is Aaron Judge we’re talking about here – so the level of concern shouldn’t be as great as it would be with other players.
Luckily for Judge, his slow start has been somewhat overlooked due to the Bombers success on the field, led primarily by new addition Juan Soto who has far exceeded the hype and lofty expectations that were set for him entering the season.
Where is your level of concern with Judge?
Do you think it’s only a matter of time before he breaks out and gets back to playing at the MVP-level we’ve become accustomed to?
Or are you worried that he may have “peaked” and will begin to slowly decline as a player???