WHAT'S WRONG WITH AARON JUDGE?

The Yankees have been hot lately. with the exception of last night against the Indians.  Anyway... one guy who has NOT contributed the hot streak is our star Aaron Judge. Even though we've been dominating the Orioles, Judge went 0-for-4 on Wednesday night including 3 strikeouts. Last night against the Indians... 0-5 again!

Obviously, players have their ups and downs, but Judge has not been himself at the plate lately.

“It’s just baseball,’’ Judge said. “Sometimes hits fall and sometimes they don’t and you hit it hard right at people.”

That's just one game, right? Not exactly. Judge has been 12-for-76 in the past 20 games. Those hits include 4 doubles, 1 home run, and 4 RBIs. He has also struck out 27 times. Even though we are winning games, it's hard to watch Judge struggle so much.

“It stinks,’’ Judge said of his slump. “You want to help out your team any time you can. Whenever you go out there and don’t produce, it’s tough. I keep doing my job and play good defense and try to get something going at the plate. The most important thing is winning. If I go 0-for-3 and we keep winning, I think we’ll be fine.”

However, we haven't had to count on Judge to help carry the Pinstripes to victory, thanks to hitters such as Gio Urshela and DJ LeMahieu.

This isn't the first Judge has been in a slump. After an awful August 2017, he was able to come back big time for September, even hitting 4 home runs in September. 

“There is some stuff that he’s working on,’’ Boone said. “Long term he will be the beast. I know he’s going through a rough stretch. He will get hot again. He’s a tick away.’’

Maybe it's just a case of the summertime sadness, but I suspect Judge will snap out of this. Luckily, whatever it is isn't affecting the team negatively since we are still winning. The Judge's chambers aren't closed just yet!

--Missy O'Rourke
BYB Contributor
Twitter: @missy_orourke