Two games into the World Series, Aaron Judge is the weakest link on the New York Yankees . The presumptive AL MVP is coming off a monster regular season, one that was even better than his 62-homer effort in 2022 , but after two Fall Classic games, Judge is 1 for 9 with six strikeouts, and his at-bats have largely been noncompetitive.
“It’s just about getting in a good position,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said about Judge after Game 2 Saturday. “When you get into that good — and everyone’s different in how they do it — you get in that strong position, that load where then the swing decisions follow that. I think he’s kind of working through that. Once that happens, it happens like that.”
Judge saw 21 pitches in his four at-bats in Game 2, took 11 swings, and missed on seven. Only seven of those 21 pitchers were fastballs. The Los Angeles Dodgers have buried Judge with spin — sliders, curveballs, and sweepers — and he seems to have fallen completely out of his approach, the approach that allowed him to post a .322/.458/.701 line during the regular season.