The Yankees Won’t Win The Ring Unless Aaron Judge Gets Hot

While the Yankees advanced to the World Series, it came mostly because of guys like Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Volpe, Juan Soto, Anthony Rizzo, and Gleyber Torres. The soon-to-be two-time MVP Aaron Judge has mostly contributed minimally. Judge has mostly struggled this postseason as he has the two previous Octobers. While baseball is a team game, the 32-year-old is the locomotive that pulls the Yankees train. Unless Aaron Judge’s bat gets hot, the Yankees can’t expect to win the World Series.

The Yankees Had Postseason Success Despite Judge’s Struggles

For the first time since 2009, the New York Yankees are in the World Series. New York dispatched both the Royals and Guardians on their way to their 41^st American League Pennant. However, it was the bats of Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Volpe, Juan Soto, Anthony Rizzo, and Gleyber Torres that led the way. Although he hit two homers and drove in six runs, Aaron Judge was held mostly in check by Royals and Guardians pitchers. This trend seems to be carrying over into the World Series for Judge against Dodger pitching as well.

Aaron Judge Has A Successful Track Record

There’s no denying the success Aaron Judge has had in the regular season. In his career, Judge is slashing .288/.406/.604 with 315 homers, 716 RBI, and a 1.010 OPS. He’s been an all-star six times, earned Rookie of the Year and MVP awards, and holds the American League single-season home run record. This season, he also became the fastest player in baseball history to hit 300 home runs. Given how successful he was in 2024, he’s most likely going to win another MVP award. The track record is there, he just never seems to carry over that success into October. This is the same problem that former Yankee star Alex Rodriguez had from 2005-2007. Although, I don’t see manager Aaron Boone batting Yankee captain eighth.

Judge Is A Shell Of Himself In The Postseason

Whenever the Judge is playing in the postseason, it’s almost as if this ultra-successful player becomes a shell of himself. In 54 career postseason games, Judge is slashing just .203/.309/.444 with 15 homers, 31 RBI, and a .753 OPS. His 34.3% strikeout rate in the playoffs is the highest in baseball history. This October, Judge is only .167 with just two home runs and six RBI. This postseason, we’ve seen teams intentionally walking Juan Soto to face Judge instead. This is something that Yankee opponents mostly refused to do during the regular season. While baseball is the ultimate team game, Aaron Judge is hardly contributing to that cause in the postseason. The Yankees ultimately live and die on Aaron Judge’s performance, if he isn’t hitting home runs then they are generally in trouble.

Yankees Aren’t Going To Win If Judge’s Struggles Continue

While every player must do their part to win a baseball game, Aaron Judge hasn’t been doing his in the postseason. Most of his at-bats in October have ended in strikeouts rather than hits. While other players like Stanton, Rizzo, Volpe, Soto, and Torres have stepped up, it won’t be enough to beat the Dodgers in the World Series. Unless Judge can start having more success in the postseason, World Series win number 28 will continue to elude the Yankees.

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