The New York Yankees won another series, taking two of three from the Toronto Blue Jays this past weekend, but the story of the series had nothing to do with their wins. It had everything to do with what the Blue Jays did with Aaron Judge, the hottest hitter on the planet.
The Jays intentionally walked Judge four times in the three games including three times in the series’ final game. Fittingly, those three walks issued on Sunday were in his final three plate appearances of the game. Blue Jays manager John Schneider said he “didn’t feel like seeing him swing” after intentionally walking him with the bases empty on Saturday, and really didn’t want to see him swing on Sunday.
The Blue Jays were banking on the rest of the lineup falling short by walking Judge as often as they did, and for the most part, it worked.
The Jays had reason to treat Judge as carefully as they did over the weekend, but that wasn’t something that Yankees fans and especially Juan Soto appreciated.
Juan Soto’s comments about Blue Jays handling of Aaron Judge are off-base
“It sucks… It makes me mad. I don’t like that. I want them to challenge him.” -Juan Soto on the Blue Jays intentionally walking Aaron Judge three times today pic.twitter.com/hD5bKe7D0V
Yes, it sucks. It should make Soto mad. Soto should want the Blue Jays to challenge him. Yankees fans come out to the ballpark in large part to see Aaron Judge swing the bat and hit moonshots. Just look at it from Toronto’s perspective, though. Why on earth would they even pitch to Judge at this point?
Judge is slashing .322/.456/.701 with 41 home runs and 103 RBI in 111 games played this season. No, that’s not a .701 OPS, that’s a .701 slugging percentage. Yes, he has over 40 home runs and over 100 RBI on August 5. He has been flat-out ridiculous offensively.
It’s easy to forget that Judge had a .645 OPS in his first 23 games of this season and was hitting well under .200 at that time. Since then, he’s slashing .363/.495/.803. He is getting on base nearly 50 percent of the time, and has a slugging percentage of over .800. His full-season numbers are ridiculous, but taking out that slump makes them look even scarier.
If you want to look even deeper, Judge has always tormented the Blue Jays. He has a 1.070 OPS against them this season with four home runs and 13 RBI in 46 at-bats this season. His 13 RBI against Toronto are his most against any opponent. In his career, Judge has 38 home runs in 120 games with a 1.007 OPS against the Blue Jays. Judge has more home runs as a Yankee against the Blue Jays than anyone, and has only tacked on since accomplishing that feat.
In this series alone, Judge had five hits in nine at-bats when he wasn’t pitched around or walked. Two of those hits left the ballpark. He drew six walks, four of which were intentional. He wound up reaching base 11 of his 15 plate appearances. Video game numbers.
As good as he was, it’s not as if he was doing much damage when he wasn’t hitting home runs, and that’s because the Blue Jays just refused to challenge him as the series progressed.
Judge scored just three runs in the three games, two of which came as a result of home runs he hit. He reached base 11 times in 15 plate appearances, yet only scored three times. He scored once when driven in by someone else. That’s a glaring red flag, and should encourage teams to only walk Judge more until his teammates prove they can make the opposition pay.
Knowing that Judge is just otherworldly offensively, why would the Jays pitch to him? Sure, they might if Soto was hitting behind him, but that’s not how their lineup is constructed.
Remember Luis Severino’s comments? This Yankees lineup is more formidable now than it was then with Giancarlo Stanton returning from the IL and Jazz Chisholm Jr. joining the fold, but their lineup still is centered fully around Soto and especially Judge. The Jays (and some other teams) are accepting the risk that someone else might beat them and deeming it worthwhile to take the bat out of Judge’s hands.
Knowing that Judge’s teammates have struggled to drive him in, he feels scarier at the plate than he does at first base, which is fascinating to say.
From Toronto’s perspective, it almost worked. They lost two of three, but the final game ended in extra innings. The Yankees only scored more than four runs once in the three games, and needed extra innings to score four on Sunday. The Jays had a legitimate shot at winning that game and the series, and it was thanks in large part to their handling of Judge.
Sorry you’re mad about this, Juan. Chances are, he’ll only be walked more as teams force the rest of the lineup to come through. There’s no real reason to pitch to Judge anymore. It’s on Soto and his teammates to change that.
