Judge on playoff struggles: ‘Got to hunker down’

LOS ANGELES — When Aaron Judge is the best version of himself, the version that tormented pitchers all summer on a tear not seen since peak Barry Bonds, he demolishes the 2-0 fastball Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw him in the sixth inning of the Yankees‘ 4-2 loss to the Dodgers in Game 2 of the World Series on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.

The 94 mph offering was on the lower half of the strike zone, down the middle, ripe for Judge on which to feast. But Judge didn’t feast. He didn’t even swing. Instead, it was a called strike.

“When we’re going well, we can usually fire on that,” Judge said.

Judge fouled off the next pitch, a low curveball that he usually devours too. Then came the knockout punch: a splitter that darted underneath his hands. Judge swung and missed for strike three, an alarmingly frequent result in October for Judge and the Yankees.

The presumptive American League MVP went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts Saturday as the Yankees dug themselves a 2-0 hole in the series. He is 1-for-9 with six strikeouts in the World Series and 6-for-40 (.150) with 19 strikeouts in 50 postseason plate appearances.

Simply, his playoff struggles from 2022, which drew boos from his home crowd after his historic season of 62 home runs, have bled into 2024.

“I think what it comes down to is just swinging at strikes, getting a pitch to drive,” Judge said. “You don’t get a pitch to drive, don’t try to make something happen up there. It’s the postseason. Guys are going to make their pitches. They’re going to pitch you tough, so I just got to hunker down and get the job done. That’s what it comes down to, and I’m not doing that right now.”

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Judge was expanding his strike zone, a problem he believes stems from Judge not putting himself in a position to make good swing decisions. In other words, his timing is off. Judge said he was “getting close” to correcting his mechanics.

He said his October struggles are “a little similar” to his struggles to start the season, when he hit .197/.331/.393 with 40 strikeouts in 149 plate appearances through May 2. He went 1-for-4 on May 3, beginning a torrid 125-game stretch in which he batted .357 with 52 home runs and a 1.279 OPS to finish the regular season.

“When you have a guy like that, so good like that, I think it’s only going to take one at-bat to get him going,” said Yankees right fielder Juan Soto, who went 2-for-4 with a home run in Game 2.

Yankees hitting coach James Rowson said Judge was “grinding right now — in a good way. He’s up there. He’s giving everything he’s got.” He also noted the human element in Judge playing in his first World Series.

“More than anything, we’re in this spot and you want to do things,” Rowson said. “So sometimes you get a little anxious, and your mindset’s just trying to do a little bit more than normal. We got three games at home [next]. I think the homecoming will be good for him.”

Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. echoed Rowson’s thoughts.

“We’re all a little bit anxious, you know?” said Chisholm, who is also playing in his first World Series. “First two games of our World Series in our career. So you’re going to go out there a little bit anxious. I feel like when we get home, he’s going to feel more confident and he’s going to calm down a little bit more going into a home crowd.”

Judge has whiffed on 32 of his 59 swings (54%) over the past five games, a staggering clip for someone who led the majors in home runs, RBIs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS and wRC+ while whiffing on only 31% of his swings. He has 13 strikeouts over the five-game stretch, his most in any five-game span since June 2021.

He clubbed home runs in back-to-back games during the American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians, including a tying two-run shot off All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase in Game 3. Other than that, he has one double, three singles and seven walks in the postseason.

Meanwhile, Giancarlo Stanton, who cracked a two-run homer in Game 1, has six homers and a 1.098 OPS in October. Soto, who delivered the go-ahead home run in Game 5 of the ALCS to send the Yankees to the World Series, is batting .350 with four home runs and a 1.160 OPS in the playoffs. They have fueled the Yankees’ postseason run.

The Yankees are now waiting on Judge, the third member of the slugging trifecta, to get back on track, to pounce on those 2-0 fastballs over the plate and affect games. Those around Judge are confident he will. Their championship hopes depend on it.

Said Stanton: “He’s going to help us win some games here.”