ALL RISE
Aaron Judge is having another record-breaking season. Will it come with a title for the Yankees?
Over the past 41 games, Aaron Judge is hitting over .400, has an eye-popping 21 homeruns, and has revived some old Yankee gear. Despite the fact Juan Soto has begun his tenure with the Yankees with an incessant bang, the fact remains: The New York Yankees, in Aaron Judge, have the undisputed best player in the league on their roster. Humble with an intense work ethic, Judge is getting Yankee fans unquestionably thirsty for a title, a title that would be their first in fifteen seasons. They should be; the team is awfully good, and “Judgey” as manager Aaron Boone calls him, doesn’t look like he will slow down anytime soon. On Tuesday night, against the Kansas City Royals, he rocketed a ball to the left-centerfield seats on a first pitch curveball. It sent shockwaves. That sound that you feel burning in your ears is the buzz of the Yankees, who are leading the league with 48 wins.
The buzz is earned, and will last the entire summer — thanks to a new acquisition named Juan Soto — unlike the 2022 team that also got out on a hot start. Judge, the six foot seven captain who is like if Paul Bunyan had the self-regard and the controlled charisma of Derek Jeter, is playing like a legit psycho. Furthermore, he might be a psycho. On May 25th, after a win in San Diego where he hit a homerun, a reporter in the postgame presser commented on his hot month. Judge processed the question, and smiled, perhaps to the camera, but probably more to himself and said: “it’s May.” Derek Jeter and Thurman Munson can smile proudly, knowing that their midwestern politeness — yet New York passion — has rubbed off on Judge, who wears his Yankee pride like a Christmas present fresh out the box. More than any other team in baseball, the Yankees incorporate history in their marketing scheme. The Yankee is to be excellent and untalkative, a smooth operator — a Mr. Wolf type that we know little to nothing about — but beloved in the eyes of fans and teammates; Aaron Judge has always fit that to a tee.
I originally didn’t want to write about the Yankees until the playoffs, or possibly even after the season, because I don’t want to jinx them, and my nutty brain believes in jinxing your favorite team. If it is at all possible, I would prefer this team not be discussed; I’d prefer if I wasn’t too excited, because you run the risk of your heart breaking in pieces if they lose, or your words becoming exaggerated. It’s early. Some things have to be blogged about, though, and it’s been spellbinding watching him trample opposing pitchers, and take balls that would be tough pitches and smoke them out to bordering states. (That ball in Kansas City was hit to Oklahoma). We’ve seen Judge take over an entire city’s attention, but we haven’t always seen this: him playing so well that we’re discussing if he is an elite talent, one of baseball’s most dominant athletes, up there with Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Henry Aaron, and Alex Rodriguez. (It should be said, even though I don’t necessarily care, that A-Rod tested positive for performance enhancing drugs; Bonds is an alleged steroid abuser). Judge most reminds me of a young Rodriguez, except he might be even better at the plate. The inside fastball has become a pitch that he easily turns on; the fastball on the corner gets turned to a homerun in the short porch. There’s no holes in the swing, and the plate discipline is as patient as it’s ever been. He currently leads the league in doubles, homeruns, RBI’s, walks, OBP, SLG, and OPS+; pitchers shake in their boots when pitching against him. Since he’s become so patient, and Giancarlo Stanton is doing a decent job of backing him up in the four hole, the hitters count he tends to always work to his advantage. Judge is choosing violence thus far, proving that he’s the biggest problem in the entire league.
Judge’s inimitable regular season hasn’t always meant postseason success. This era has been good for the Yankees, but it has yet to yield a championship. 2017 and 2019 ended in the cheating heat of Houston; 2022 was a solid, but not great team; 2023 failed to make the playoffs. Judge wants it; you can feel it in his responses during the post game pressers. It’s only May, to him and his teammates, and the goal in the Yankees universe is always to bring a championship home to the Bronx. Since his rookie year in 2017, he has struggled with injuries throughout his tenure in a Yankee uniform. Still, his body is as strong and mechanical as it’s ever been, his focus has never been more earnest and strident as it is in this season. His swing is quick, concise, and thorough. If Stanton looks like he is chopping wood, Judge looks like he is swinging at a piñata — ready to bust and eyes wide like a coyote.
While no baseball fans will ever have empathy for the Yankees — and they shouldn’t — they’ve been waiting to have a roster this deep and top heavy since the 2009 Yankees, the last team in the Bronx to win a World Series. His accomplishments will stand alone even if the surging Orioles, or the stellar Dodgers, beat the Yankees in a playoff series, but Judgey wants a title; perhaps for the salvation of the Yankees universe, he’ll finally be able to lead us to one.