{"id":737514,"date":"2026-07-01T19:47:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T19:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/737514\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T19:47:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T19:47:10","slug":"aaron-judge-calls-out-yankees-lack-of-focus-in-rare-pointed-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/737514\/","title":{"rendered":"Aaron Judge calls out Yankees\u2019 \u2018lack of focus\u2019 in rare pointed criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 Aaron Judge is rarely candid with reporters when discussing behind-the-scenes matters concerning the New York Yankees. So it was interesting that the captain openly expressed his displeasure with what he\u2019s been watching over the last week during the club\u2019s six-game losing streak<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it\u2019s not great,\u201d Judge said at his locker before Wednesday afternoon\u2019s game against the Detroit Tigers. \u201cJust a little lack of focus. We just gotta dial it in. Our ultimate goal is to win a World Series. I think guys have to remember that every single day they show up here. We\u2019re here to win a World Series.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat should motivate you every single day you step on that field, no matter what happens, no matter what happens the day before. \u2018I got a job to do.\u2019 We\u2019ve got an important sign when you walk out on the field. It\u2019s the last sign you see before you\u2019re out there; it says do your job. Guys are here to do their job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judge mentioned he\u2019s talked with unidentified players about the matter and said the club will be speaking \u201cwith a bigger group here soon.\u201d When asked what he meant by not liking the lack of focus from his teammates, he declined to discuss specifics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you guys see it,\u201d Judge said. \u201cThere are a couple of things, but we don\u2019t need to get into that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over their six-game skid, the Yankees have committed eight errors and allowed 15 unearned runs due to defensive miscues. Part of New York\u2019s problem during this stretch is several players are playing out of position. For example, Jos\u00e9 Caballero is playing center field Wednesday. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said several players are dealing with food poisoning, which is why the team has a funky defensive alignment in the series finale.<\/p>\n

But the Yankees\u2019 defensive issues extend beyond the injuries they\u2019ve endured. Ben Rice and Jazz Chisholm Jr. rank last at their respective positions in Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), Boone\u2019s preferred public metric for evaluating defense, and the Yankees are tied for the third-worst mark in the majors. Cody Bellinger is MLB\u2019s best defender in left field with 16 DRS. The Yankees\u2019 next best defender by DRS is Caballero at shortstop with five, but because of injuries, he no longer plays the position often.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we\u2019re right, we\u2019re a quality team in those areas, where we\u2019ve made some errors this week and we\u2019ve let unearned runs go,\u201d Boone said. \u201cMoving forward, that shouldn\u2019t be the case. There\u2019s a little bit of a product of us having some important guys around Judge that settle us, especially defensively. Guys are moving around a little bit. I think that\u2019s factored in. Individually speaking, I feel like the guys are in the right frame of mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just defense where the Yankees have struggled of late. The offense has been abysmal. In their last five games, the Yankees have only 16 hits, the fewest number in any five-game span in franchise history. Numerous players are out of sorts at the plate.<\/p>\n

Why are the Yankees in a slump right now? <\/p>\n

Goldschmidt: 0 for his last 14
Rice: 5 for his last 41
Dom\u00ednguez: 2 for his last 17
Volpe: 5 for his last 30
Caballero: 5 for his last 35
Bellinger: 3 for his last 30
Chisholm: 1 for his last 15
Wells: Entire season<\/p>\n

\u2014 Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) July 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Judge thinks the offense is \u201cjust trying to do too much.\u201d He referenced how much he liked the offense in the season-opening series against the San Francisco Giants. He thought the hitters did a good job of working at-bats and having faith in the players behind them in the order.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like right now, collectively, guys are trying to do too much and be the one guy that will hit the grand slam with nobody on,\u201d Judge said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt times when we\u2019re scuffling, we don\u2019t trust ourselves. We don\u2019t trust that maybe the guy behind me will help me out. Anytime I step into the box, I got Cody Bellinger behind me. I got Paul Goldschmidt behind me. I\u2019m gonna go out there and just focus on what I got to do at the plate. If I don\u2019t get it done, the guy behind me will. That takes a lot of pressure off you when you\u2019re in the box and scuffling a little bit. They\u2019re gonna be fine, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even with their cold streak, the Yankees are tied with the Pittsburgh Pirates for the third-best offense in MLB, by WRC. They will get offensive reinforcements later this week, as Trent Grisham and Ryan McMahon are expected to be activated off the injured list for Friday\u2019s game against the Minnesota Twins. Their returns should also provide relief defensively, as there will be less shuffling of players who usually don\u2019t play positions they\u2019ve been forced into.<\/p>\n

As for Judge, he did not provide an update on when he might return to the lineup. The Yankees\u2019 training staff has not cleared Judge for re-imaging on his ribs, and they will not know a potential timeline until that happens. In the meantime, Judge is forced to watch from the dugout as his teammates struggle and lose ground to the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the worst,\u201d Judge said. \u201cThat\u2019s one thing that always kills me throughout the year. I hate missing games, but I hate missing them in times where things aren\u2019t going your way. That\u2019s when I want to be out there. I want to be grinding with the guys and be a part of the solution to get us back to where we need to be.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK \u2014 Aaron Judge is rarely candid with reporters when discussing behind-the-scenes matters concerning the New York…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":737515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,369,99],"class_list":["post-737514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=737514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/737515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=737514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=737514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=737514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}