Yankees' Aaron Judge Opens Postseason 0-For-8 with 7 Strikeouts
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Aaron Judge's late season struggles have carried into the beginning of the postseason.
Friday, in game two of the American League Division Series, Judge went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts, in the Yankees' 4-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians.
To add to his golden sombrero, Judge went 0-for-3 in game one, a game the Yankees won 4-1 on Tuesday.
The ALDS is now tied 1-1, with the series moving to Cleveland for game three and game four Saturday and Sunday. Suddenly, the Yankees find themselves in a precarious position, as Cleveland now essentially has homefield advantage. If the Guardians can defend homefield this weekend, they will win the series and advance to the American League Championship Series.
The Yankees are going to need more production out of the potential American League MVP in order to win this series.
Friday, the Yankees scored two runs off a Giancarlo Stanton home run in the first inning, and did not score again the rest of the game.
Over the last two weeks of the 2022 season, Judge began to slump, though he kept getting on base, as teams began pitching around him more. Pressure began to mount as he was running out of time to hit his 61st and 62nd home runs of the season. As he saw less pitches to hit, he seemed to get in his head, as the pressure continued to build.
Over his final 13 games, Judge batted just .213 with two home runs and three RBI, recording eight hits in 37 at bats. His on base percentage during that stretch was an otherworldly .473.
Throughout Judge's struggles, Yankees manager Aaron Boone has kept him in the leadoff spot.
Perhaps the time is right to consider dropping the team's best hitter down to the three spot.
