It’s a pretty safe bet that the New York Yankees are making the playoffs. What’s less certain is how much team captain and MVP candidate Aaron Judge will contribute.
Not that there needs to be a grand sense of urgency about Judge’s production. He’s batting .319 with an MLB-leading 51 home runs and 126 RBI. The Yankees also hold a two-game lead over rival Baltimore in the AL East.
However, all of this has happened without Aaron Judge at his best. His .319 batting average is down eight points from the start of the month. Judge has hit just .195 in September with no home runs in his last 70 plate appearances, the longest stretch of his career. It’s the worst he’s looked since the start of this season, when he hit .206 through April.
This doesn’t mean the death knell for the Yankees by any means. Two-plus weeks remain in the regular season. The diligent Judge has time to figure himself out. He overcame a slow start to have a 210 wRC+ on Sept. 13. He’ll have even more time to make adjustments if the Yankees clinch the AL’s top seed and a playoff bye.
But even then, don’t bet the farm on the Yankees winning it all now that Judge has Juan Soto batting in front of him. Like many star players before him, Aaron Judge often disappears in the postseason. He has 13 home runs and 25 RBI in 44 playoff games, but only a .211 batting average and .772 OPS.
That’s above average by MLB standards but for someone of Judge’s caliber? It’s Joey Gallo territory. Feast or famine, no middle ground. The Yankees need better play out of him if it’s World Series or bust.
The same goes for Soto, who’s only batting .208 since his three-homer game against the White Sox on Aug. 13. He at least has six home runs during his slump, plus the walk-off single in Thursday’s win over the Red Sox.
Let’s hope Aaron Judge soon follows. The Yankees will soon need him even more than Soto.
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