Judge says he’s ‘one and done’ at Home Run Derby
TAMPA, FLA. — Looks like Aaron Judge was a one-hit wonder when it comes to the Home Run Derby.
“I’m leaning toward not doing it,” Judge said early Thursday morning, shortly after arriving at Steinbrenner Field. “One and done is good for me.”
The 25-year-old Judge, who hit a rookie-record 52 homers last season, didn’t 100 per cent rule out participating in it again, but strongly indicated his decision was final.
“I’m Home Run Derby champion, it was a cool experience, I enjoyed it all, but I don’t think I really need to go out there and do it again,” Judge said. “I won it
once.”
Judge entered last year’s event as the favourite and electrified the crowd, as well as all-stars from both leagues who sat spellbound on the sidelines, in Miami last July en route to winning the title. He put on a show in each of his three rounds and hit four homers that surpassed 500 feet.
In the three previous years those measurements were kept, no one had surpassed 500 feet. Giancarlo Stanton, now Judge’s teammate but then with the Marlins, had come the closest when he launched one 497 feet in 2016 in San Diego. Judge was denied a homer when one moon shot clipped the rafters in Marlins Park in left-centre, an area that had never before seen a baseball, locals said.
But Judge stumbled badly after last year’s all-star break, hitting .179/.346/.344 with seven homers and 16 RBIs through the rest of July and all of August. Many, citing nothing but hypothesis, blamed the Derby for the skid, though Judge acknowledged early this spring a bulky left shoulder, which would require surgery last November, bothered him more than he let on.
“Everyone always talks about the Derby will do that, but it really didn’t have an effect on that,” Judge said.
Judge did recover in September to hit 15 homers.
Asked if the combination of the Derby and the bulky left shoulder impacted his second half slump — Judge said, “I’d rather not say.”