What happens when the two best hitters in the world bat back-to-back in the same lineup? THIS
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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff Writer
It’s the question almost every manager who has faced the New York Yankees this season has confronted: How in the world do you handle a lineup with Juan Soto and Aaron Judge hitting back-to-back?
There’s no easy answer, especially since Judge flipped the switch on a sluggish start three days into May and whipped out a blowtorch to opposing pitchers. Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli smiled when he was asked about it earlier this month.
“I don’t have anything special here,” Baldelli said. “There’s not an ideal way to attack the guys that are the best in the game at what they do.”
Rarely are the two best hitters in baseball on the same team. But the numbers illustrate that Judge and Soto are not only the top hitters in the sport, but one of the greatest duos ever, already drawing comparisons to legendary Yankees combos of the past, from Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig to Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. They complement each other to near perfection, a lefty-righty combination putting up historic numbers by patiently exhausting pitchers with remarkable discipline and loudly punishing mistakes.
Soto, 25, is batting .320 with 17 home runs and a 1.025 OPS in his first season in New York. Judge, the 32-year-old captain, is hitting .302 with a 1.118 OPS and an MLB-best 25 home runs.
The outfielders rank first and second in the majors in OPS, OBP, wRC+, and wOBA. Soto’s 4.3 fWAR is fourth. Judge’s 5.0 fWAR is first. Judge is on pace for 57 home runs two years after smashing an American League record 62. Soto is on track to strike gold in free agency this winter before his age-26 season.
They have been the engine for the best record in the majors and a 112-win pace.
“Those two guys benefit from a balanced, strong supporting cast, but [also] the closeness that has existed within the team … and how they’re communicating with one another and how they’re talking to one another,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Certainly, Aaron and Juan being the best hitters in the sport but different. [One’s] right-handed, one’s left-handed. There’s different matchups that favor different guys, but having another guy that they kind of relate to one another, unlike a lot of us can. I’ve seen that, I think, be beneficial.”
It’s what the organization imagined when general manager Brian Cashman chose to send five players to the San Diego Padres for Soto and outfielder Trent Grisham in December, knowing Soto’s Yankees tenure could end after one season. The price, they deemed, was worth paying to partner Soto with Judge for a championship push.
“This,” Boone said, “is what I pictured and fantasized about since the day it happened.”
The fantasy took longer to formulate than expected. While Soto jumped out to a scorching start, Judge languished over the season’s first five weeks as he transitioned to playing center field every day. Judge emerged from a May 2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles with a .197/.331/.393 slash line. His struggles were analyzed from every angle. Were his mechanics off? Was he healthy? Was he just a step slower?
But Judge has laid waste to pitchers since then. He’s batting .413 with a .528 on-base percentage, 19 home runs, and 15 doubles over his last 36 games. He’s slugging 1.000 with nearly as many walks (31) as strikeouts (33) during the stretch. His 1.528 OPS over the span is more than 400 points better than anyone else in the majors. His 310 wRC+ is 109 points better than anyone else. His 4.5 fWAR is 1.9 better than anyone else.
Meanwhile, Soto’s only rough patch of the season lasted all of eight games in which he went 4-for-31 from May 9 through May 16. The stretch was long enough for the right fielder to take extra batting practice on the field with coaches several hours before facing the Chicago White Sox on May 17. Soto then went 4- for-4 with two home runs in a win.
“I was definitely working on my swing,” Soto said. “Trying to find that feeling again where I was hitting the ball the first month and getting that feeling back and just get that confidence back on.”
The Yankees, as a result, are 27-7 with Soto and Judge in the lineup together since May 3.
“I would say it’s the best 2-3 in all of baseball, and I think they’ve shown that’s the case, day in and day out,” Yankees catcher Austin Wells said. “When they’re in the lineup, we have a great chance to win versus any team in baseball.”
No opponent knows that more than the Twins. The Yankees have already swept the season series from Minnesota, going 6-0 with a plus-20 run differential in two series over the last month. Judge went 10-for-20 with seven walks, six doubles, one home run and a 1.680 OPS in the six victories.
“You have to pitch to them,” Baldelli said on June 5. “You don’t really want to put one on base to face the other one. That’s not a good plan, at least in my opinion.”
Later that day, Soto and Judge combined to go 2-for-6 with three walks, five RBIs and three runs scored as the Yankees continued their dominance over Minnesota with a 9-5 win.
The club received a scare the next night, however, when Soto exited a rain-delayed affair with left forearm discomfort. Testing was scheduled for the following day. Suddenly, the Yankees’ World Series hopes hung in the balance, but Soto and the Yankees received the best news possible: No structural damage, just inflammation. Soto’s status was labeled day-to-day, but he didn’t play in the weekend showdown against the Los Angeles Dodgers after starting the Yankees’ first 64 games.
Soto’s absence was palpable in two losses to the Dodgers to begin the marquee series, to the point that the crowd was chanting for Soto while Grisham, his replacement in the lineup, was batting in Sunday’s finale. Grisham reversed their feelings with a go-ahead three-run home run, but the fans’ behavior bothered Judge, who defended Grisham and said, “I wasn’t too happy with it,” while noting Soto’s unmatched presence.
“He’s been carrying this team all year,” Judge said of Soto. “And anytime you go up against good teams like this and fans pay to come see us do our thing, they want to see the best out there.”
Four days later, Soto and Judge were back in the lineup together in Kansas City, occupying the No. 2 and 3 spots, in a 10-1 win over the Royals. It was far from the first time — and most likely won’t be the last time — Soto and Judge wreaked havoc on an opponent. The Yankees are banking on them doing it through the end of October.
“You got that sense right away that this is a good thing,” Boone said. “Certainly, that’s played out so far.”
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Max Olson, ESPN Staff Writer
BOULDER, Colo. — Deion Sanders watched his Colorado offense put up 49 points on the top scoring defense in the Big 12 on Saturday, but he isn’t satisfied. The coach expects dominance in all three phases of the game.
The Buffaloes outplayed Utah in two out of three phases and eventually got rolling on offense in a 49-24 victory, extending their win streak to four games and ensuring they’ll remain in the Big 12 championship race the rest of the way. Afterward, Sanders delivered a critique that sounded a little more like a warning to others.
“We haven’t even put it all together yet,” Sanders said. “Like, we haven’t even played our best game. That should be, in itself, scary. Like, man, when I said we comin’, we still comin’. We never stopped comin’. We are comin’. And we ain’t nearly there yet.”
Colorado (8-2, 6-1) got a strong start from its defense, which held the Utes (4-6, 1-6) to 83 yards on 33 plays in the first half, and a 76-yard punt return touchdown from receiver LaJohntay Wester to help make up for a bumpy start on offense. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders was intercepted on his first pass and later fumbled a snap for another turnover.
It may not have been the Buffaloes’ finest performance of the season, but it was a 25-point win over the preseason Big 12 front-runner, snapping a seven-game losing streak against a program whose last win at Folsom Field came by a score of 63-21.
“I think that speaks a lot about the program and where we are,” Deion Sanders said. “We’ve got to tighten some things up and get some things together, but you see we’re trending in the right direction.
“We started off rough. That wasn’t indicative to who Shedeur is, and I thought he was kind of OK all game long. Then I look at the stats and he’s 30-for-41 for 340 [yards] and three [touchdowns]. Like, c’mon man. I guess I’m just a hard dad to please at times, as well as a hard head coach.”
Sanders praised Utah’s defense and the problems it presented throughout the contest and said he was thankful for the challenge. It took complementary football to overcome the two first-half turnovers, with Colorado’s defense holding Utah to field goals after both takeaways. The Buffaloes didn’t surrender a touchdown until midway through the third quarter.
“Those type of things can’t happen,” Shedeur Sanders said, “and I’m going to have a talk with the whole offense and apologize for my performance out there at the very beginning, because I can’t put the team in that type of situation. I’m thankful for the defense. I may have to take them out to dinner this week for saving me and saving the team.”
Sanders responded after the fumble by guiding an 85-yard touchdown drive that featured another highlight-reel moment for Travis Hunter. Sanders threw deep to Colorado’s two-way star on a fourth-and-8, and Hunter made a leaping grab over two Utah defenders for a 25-yard gain. Sanders hit Will Sheppard for an 8-yard score on his next throw to extend Colorado’s lead to 21-6.
Hunter added to his Heisman Trophy résumé Saturday with 55 receiving yards on five catches, a 5-yard rushing touchdown on a reverse and his third interception of the season while playing 132 snaps.
When asked if he had a message for undecided Heisman voters, Deion Sanders did not hold back.
Travis Hunter after his third interception on the season 🔥 pic.twitter.com/NhvAnbGLow
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 16, 2024
“If they can’t see, they can’t see,” Sanders said. “It is what it is. I mean, Travis is who he is. It’s supposed to go to the best college football player. I think that’s been a wrap since, what, Week 2? So we ain’t petitioning for nobody. We ain’t doing that. We’ve got a wonderful display of cameras here and I think we’re on national television every week. If they can’t see it, there’s a problem.
“Don’t allow their hatred for me to interfere with our kids’ success. They gotta stop that. Y’all gotta stop. Some of y’all are like that. Y’all gotta stop that, man. Give the kids what they deserve, man. I had my turn. I played 14 years. You had 14 years to hate me. Now let it go.”
Hunter was the Heisman front-runner in ESPN BET odds entering Week 12 at +125, ahead of Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel, Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty and Miami quarterback Cam Ward.
Colorado’s defense was able to constantly pressure freshman quarterback Isaac Wilson, forcing four sacks and three interceptions, and Utah finished with a mere 31 rushing yards, their fewest in a game since 2011. The preseason No. 12 Utes were considered the Big 12 favorites entering their first season in the conference but are now in danger of their first losing campaign since 2013.
“I’m in the twilight zone,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “… It’s the most difficult year of my coaching career, hands down, not even close.”
Colorado continues to control its destiny in chasing a Big 12 championship game bid, as the lone team in the 16-member conference that has lost just one conference game entering Saturday. The Buffaloes’ four-game win streak since a 31-28 home loss to Kansas State on Oct. 12 is the longest of Sanders’ two-year tenure.
After a 4-8 debut season, he has this once struggling program right where he planned to be for Year 2. In a league known for dramatic games decided by one-score margins, Sanders isn’t just trying to survive and advance to Arlington, Texas. He says he’s aiming for “flawless.”
“We expect to be here,” Sanders said. “A lot of y’all didn’t expect us to be here, and don’t think we don’t know that. But we expected to be where we are. Matter of fact, we expected to be a little better.”
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Pete Thamel, ESPN
Ball State fired coach Mike Neu, the school announced Saturday. The Cardinals are 3-7.
Neu was 40-63 in nine seasons at Ball State. Neu led the Cardinals to the MAC title in 2020, which was his only winning season at Ball State.
Sources told ESPN that the staff was informed of Neu’s dismissal early Saturday.
Offensive line coach Colin Johnson will serve as the interim head coach for the last two games, athletic director Jeff Mitchell said in a statement. Ball State hosts Bowling Green on Nov. 23 then plays at Ohio on Nov. 29.
Neu, 53, is a beloved alum with a strong campus reputation, but the lack of results ultimately led to his dismissal. Ball State lost 51-48 in overtime at Buffalo this week and fell to 2-4 in MAC play.
That clinched a fourth consecutive losing season for Ball State.
“Coach Neu has poured his heart into the Ball State football program,” Mitchell said in the statement. “I commend him for his professionalism and the positive team culture he has constructed. His efforts have greatly impacted the lives of hundreds of young men. He has represented the Ball State brand with integrity and class, and I wish him well in future pursuits.”
Neu led Ball State to two bowl games. That included a win over San Jose State in the Arizona Bowl to conclude the 2020 season, when Ball State finished 7-1 and won its first MAC title since 1996.
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