Yankees' Aaron Judge Drawing Inspiration From USA Hockey Team

Before returning to the New York Yankees, Aaron Judge hopes Team USA can win again in the WBC.

New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) bats a 2-run home run against Detroit Tigers during the third inning at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla. on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Jack Hughes and Hilary Knight led the men's and women's Olympic Hockey teams to gold this year, and now, Aaron Judge hopes he can channel them heading into the World Baseball Classic. His captain duties are on hold with the New York Yankees for now, with Team USA heading into pool play later this week.

Feb 22, 2026; Milan, Italy; Jack Hughes of the United States celebrates after winning the men's ice hockey gold medal game during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-Imagn Images | James Lang-Imagn Images

If there's one thing Judge is hoping for Team USA this time around, it's the ability to finish the job the previous team couldn't. The United States made it to the finals against Japan in 2023, and ended on an epic at-bat between teammates Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani struck him out.

Judge wants different results. According to him, his team is trying to do what Hughes and Knight did for their country before his team suits up against some of the world's best.

"The Olympics got us hyped up a little bit, especially with the hockey team," Judge said, according to MLB.com's Maria Guardado. "The hockey team making the run they did, the men's and women's. The boys are juiced. We've got a whole group chat about it. We were going back and forth. [Manager Mark DeRosa] and [general manager] Mike [Hill], all these guys that put this team together, man. The room is filled with talent, but I think these are some of the hardest-working guys in the league. To get all those guys in the room feeding off each other, it's going to be fun once we get out there."

Feb 19, 2026; Milan, Italy; Kendall Coyne (26) of the United States and Hilary Knight (21) of the United States celebrate after winning the gold medal in women's ice hockey after defeating Canada during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

An Honor to Play for the United States for Judge

This is Judge's first time playing for the United States at any level. His teammate, Bobby Witt Jr., already has experience playing for the United States' U-18 team. The same goes for Bryce Harper, who suited up for the United States in 2009 as a kid, before finally going pro and joining the Nationals organization just two years later.

For Judge, it's an honor doing it. He mentioned never getting the chance to be on those U-18 USA teams.

"I never played for Team USA," Judge continued. "I never did any of that growing up, so getting a chance to do it now and be the captain with the team that we have, the team that we put together, it's definitely up there. Captain of the Yankees is No. 1 still in my heart, but getting a chance to be the captain for your country is hard to describe."

Aaron Judge says the Team USA WBC group chat was spamming pictures of Jack Hughes after USA won Gold in hockey

"Now we get a chance to throw on the red, white and blue and copy what they did." 🥶

(via @PatMcAfeeShow) pic.twitter.com/gYRJX61PPq

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) March 2, 2026

The Best US Players

If there's a Mount Rushmore of the best sluggers to be playing for the United States, Judge might be up there. It's him, Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr., and Mike Trout as the best to wear that US cap heading into the WBC.

It's not to say that the United States hasn't had great hitters on its teams over the years. Others who have played for the US include Derek Jeter, David Wright, the aforementioned Harper, Giancarlo Stanton, Buster Posey, and Adam Jones. This is a list of Hall of Famers, MVPs, and All-Stars.

Just like Stanton and Posey before this crop of American talent, they're hoping to finally win in the WBC again. The last team to do it was in 2017. With a United States win this year, they would join Japan as the only team to win it multiple times. If Japan wins, though, it would be their fourth. 

To learn more about the Yankees from Spring Training and beyond, subscribe to All Yankees Talk, where new episodes are featured twice a week!

Make sure to bookmark Yankees On SI to get all your daily New York Yankees news, interviews, breakdowns and more!