{"id":177865,"date":"2025-09-29T15:45:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T15:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/177865\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T15:45:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T15:45:17","slug":"aaron-judge-the-yankees-and-the-burden-of-greatness-another-postseason-test-awaits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/177865\/","title":{"rendered":"Aaron Judge, the Yankees and the burden of greatness: Another postseason test awaits"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 Aaron Judge has established himself as the world\u2019s best hitter<\/a>, he\u2019s now collected his first batting crown<\/a>, and he could be on his way to a third MVP trophy<\/a>. But, as the New York Yankees captain prepares to lead his team into a wild-card showdown with the Boston Red Sox, there\u2019s a glaring weakness in his otherwise Hall of Fame resume<\/a>: his lack of production in the postseason.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just that Judge has grossly underperformed in October compared with his regular-season numbers. It\u2019s that he\u2019s failed \u2014 so far \u2014 to shine when it\u2019s mattered most, like the Yankees legends he resembles in so many other ways.<\/p>\n

Like Derek Jeter. Or CC Sabathia, 16 years ago.<\/p>\n

On his first night as a Yankee after signing a seven-year, $161 million contract, Sabathia spent the evening celebrating with Jay-Z at the rapper\u2019s 40\/40 Club, where the future Hall of Fame pitcher quickly learned what it meant to be a part of baseball\u2019s winningest franchise, a club that had won 26 World Series titles at the time.<\/p>\n

Sabathia was no longer part of the Cleveland Indians or the Milwaukee Brewers. This was New York, where nothing other than being the best matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was sitting with Jay-Z and one of his buddies,\u201d Sabathia recalled<\/a> earlier this month. \u201cThey were talking about, \u2018You need to win right away.\u2019 I was like, \u2018What are you talking about? I\u2019m here for seven years.\u2019 They were like, \u2018Nah, you need to win immediately.\u2019 I didn\u2019t understand what it meant to walk into that clubhouse, and the team hadn\u2019t won in so long.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was in December 2008. \u201cSo long\u201d was eight years without winning it all.<\/p>\n

The next season, Sabathia was the ace of the Yankees and the 2009 American League Championship Series MVP. The lasting image of the end of that World Series was Jeter throwing his arms into the air and greeting Mariano Rivera on the mound after the unanimous Hall of Fame closer recorded the final out against the Philadelphia Phillies.<\/p>\n

Sabathia and those Yankees delivered a 27th title. But it\u2019s been letdown after letdown for the club since then \u2014 a 15-year drought.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

CC Sabathia celebrates after the Yankees won the 2009 World Series. (Nick Laham \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The Yankees advanced to the World Series last year for the first time since 2009, but they were defeated in five games by the Los Angeles Dodgers. During the team\u2019s October run, no player received more scrutiny for their performance than Aaron Judge, the 2024 AL MVP winner.<\/p>\n

The drop-off in the playoffs has been hard to ignore.<\/p>\n

Judge has a career 178 wRC+<\/a>, but it\u2019s just 109 in the postseason. His numbers have been particularly brutal since the start of the 2019 postseason. In the 40 playoff games he\u2019s played since then, he has a .669 OPS. There might not be a simpler reason for why the Yankees haven\u2019t won a title in the Judge era than their best player not being at his best in October.<\/p>\n

The All-Star right fielder understands the burden that comes with greatness. He\u2019s lived it since his 2017 rookie season, when he hit 52 home runs. In 2022, during Judge\u2019s quest to break Roger Maris\u2019 single-season AL home run record, there was audible disappointment from the crowd whenever he did not launch a long ball. Every time Judge hits, otherworldly feats are expected \u2014 especially in October.<\/p>\n

Baseball is a game of failure, but success \u2014 fairly or not \u2014 is a requirement for a player of Judge\u2019s caliber.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019d name me the captain if they didn\u2019t think I could handle it,\u201d Judge told The Athletic. \u201cIt\u2019s part of it. That\u2019s what I want. Especially playing in New York, the fans expect the most out of you every single night. They expect you to go 4-for-4 every night and win every game. You get a lot of heat when that doesn\u2019t happen, but you got to be able to brush those things off and just keep showing up ready to work and giving your best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bernie Williams, a four-time World Series champion, said Judge and the current Yankees have a cloud of pressure hovering over them that won\u2019t go away because of what he and his teams of the 1990s and early 2000s accomplished.<\/p>\n

Yankees manager Aaron Boone has led the Yankees since 2018, and he has said this year\u2019s squad might be his most talented team yet. In doing so, Boone has placed even bigger stakes on what lies ahead for the Yankees in October. Because if Boone and Judge cannot lead this group to a title, it raises the question: When will it happen?<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have come very close on several occasions, but they still have that thing that they still need to get accomplished,\u201d Williams said in August. \u201cThey\u2019re not getting any younger. Time is kind of running its course on this generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Aaron Judge reacts after being stranded on base during Game 5 of last year\u2019s World Series. (Elsa \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

There\u2019s evidence Judge has pressed some in the postseason. In the regular season since 2017, Judge\u2019s swing percentage is 42.1 percent; it rises to 45 percent in the postseason. He\u2019s also made contact about 2 inches farther out in front of his body in October (32.7 inches in the postseason versus 30.5 inches in the regular season; the league average is 30.8 inches). Judge\u2019s hitting mechanics allow him to let the ball travel deeper in the strike zone, giving him a few more ticks to recognize and turn on a pitch.<\/p>\n

But when the postseason arrives, opposing teams\u2019 strategy of how to pitch Judge changes. Teams are already cautious about throwing him fastballs because of his career .758 slugging percentage against four-seamers. Over his career in the regular season, 29 percent of the pitches Judge has seen are four-seamers. That drops to 23 percent in the postseason. The \u201cmissing fastballs\u201d are replaced by curveballs, in particular. Judge has seen 8 percent curveballs in the regular season, but that usage jumps to 16.5 percent in the postseason. He\u2019s whiffed on 57.4 percent of the curveballs he\u2019s faced in October, which helps explain why Judge\u2019s strikeout percentage rises by nearly 20 percent in October.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(This chart shows regular-season and postseason four-seamer locations against Aaron Judge over his career. Note the increased targeting of up and in against the slugger in October.)<\/p>\n

Given his postseason struggles with curveballs, Judge\u2019s tendency to swing more aggressively and get out in front of pitches more often than he does in the regular season could result in an uptick in whiffs when the stakes are highest. Still, it\u2019s understandable why he\u2019s trying to start his swing earlier. The average four-seam in the postseason is 1 mph faster and has a half-inch more ride, and he\u2019s seeing more of them up and in, a spot in the zone that is a weakness for Judge. That elevated stuff forces him to cheat early, which in turn leaves him more vulnerable to off-speed pitches down in the zone.<\/p>\n

But the expectation with a hitter as gifted as Judge is he\u2019ll eventually look like the regular-season version of himself. And if he does that, the Yankees\u2019 lineup will be difficult to slow down.<\/p>\n

\u201cAaron is such a unicorn,\u201d former Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez said last season. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen a player quite like him that looks like an NFL tight end. The guy is just a specimen. I can\u2019t relate with that either because he makes me \u2014 (at 6 feet 3) \u2014 look small. He makes all of us look small. He has a unique element to him that (Jeter) and (Rivera) have is that no matter how big the stage is, he keeps the main thing, the main thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think he will be a world champion, because that\u2019s all he really cares about. As good as the numbers are, Aaron Judge wants to win, so I think he will.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019d name me the captain if they didn\u2019t think I could handle it,\u201d Aaron Judge said of the pressure. (Al Bello \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The only thing Judge is missing on his playing career resume is a title. He\u2019s already one of this franchise\u2019s greatest players. He\u2019s fourth all time<\/a> on the club\u2019s home run leaderboard, and the only players ahead of him are the Holy Trinity of the Yankees\u2019 storied past: Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Lou Gehrig. But without a title to his name, it\u2019s impossible for Judge to ever be considered alongside those legends. Without a championship, he\u2019ll be this generation\u2019s Don Mattingly, a beloved former captain who never won in pinstripes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s going to have a legacy, whether he wins or not, because he\u2019s a special player,\u201d Joe Girardi, Judge\u2019s rookie-year manager, said last year. \u201cI think, personally, it would mean a lot to him and the work that he\u2019s put in because there\u2019s nothing like being a champion.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the Yankees staring down elimination after falling behind 3-0 in the World Series to the Dodgers, Judge was asked point-blank whether he felt like he was letting his teammates down with his performance. At the time, Judge was 1-for-10 with four strikeouts in the Series. He paused for a few seconds before answering, \u201cI\u2019m not doing my job right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

A year later, Judge was asked what it\u2019s like to deal with the pressure he\u2019s under as the face of a franchise that is starved for its 28th championship. He knows that for the Yankees to reach the mountaintop, he needs to be comfortable in the spotlight, OK with the scrutiny that comes with being the game\u2019s best hitter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want that burden, because if I can take the weight off of other guys in this room so they go out there and produce and kind of fly under the radar and just do their job, then we have a better overall team,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u2014 The Athletic\u2019s Eno Sarris contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

(Top photo: Jim McIsaac \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK \u2014 Aaron Judge has established himself as the world\u2019s best hitter, he\u2019s now collected his first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177866,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,2704,85],"class_list":["post-177865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}