JURY’S OUT ON JUDGE

TRIPLE-A STRUGGLES HAVE SCOUTS QUESTIONING HIS YANKEE POTENTIAL

It was a little over a year ago that Rob Refsnyder was toiling away at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, waiting to be called up to The Bronx.

The only people seemi n g ly more i n te re s te d than Refsnyder in hi s arrival to the majors were Ya n ke e s fa n s who had seen enough from Stephen Drew.

Refsnyder, who is now getting an unexpected chance at first base due to Mark Teixeira’s knee injury, is still amazed at the attention he received before his arrival.

“It’s surprising because you’ve never really ever done anything substantial or anything that really matters,” Refsnyder said. “It’s strange to be a part of it. Fans like the idea of younger players. The Yankees had quite a group of four or five guys come up in the ’90s. They want a mix of veterans and youth.”

The n ex t pl aye r who has caught the fans’ attention is Aaron Judge, the hulking, 6-foot-7, 275-pound right fielder looking to follow his former SWB teammate’s path to The Bronx.

“I think that’s the interest with Aaron right now: He’s young, he’s talented, he’s larger than life,” Refsnyder said. “Everyone wants to try the new toy, and that’s what Aaron is right now.”

But with a full outf ield and Alex Rodriguez installed at DH, there’s no room for Judge, who piqued fans’ interest with tapemeasure home runs in spring training.

That won’t stop people scrutinizing the Yankees’ offense, which entered Monday dead last in the American League with an OPS of .677, from looking to the minors for answers.

Th e question, though, is whether Judge can help.

His fast start in his f irst full season at Triple-A has long since become a struggle. He had an OPS of .690 through the weekend — and he has not homered since May 9.

“It’s baseball,” Judge said this weekend in Moosic, Pa. “The season is 500 at-bats, so I’m not worried about 50. It’s part of the game. You learn from it.”

That’s why he was on the field about four hours before the RailRiders’ game at PNC Field on Saturday. He was taking extra batting practice with minor league hitting coordinator James Rowson and SWB hitting coach Tom Wilson.

Wilson, in his f i rst season with the RailRiders after spending seven years as a scout with the Yankees, insisted Judge had made “great progress” since he saw him for 10 games last year.

“Th e n u mbe r s mi gh t not show it, but it comes through on video,” Wilson said. “It’s more about his approach and getting his body in position to stay in the middle of the field.”

Fair enough, but his TripleA stats are similar (in roughly the same sample size) to what they were in 2015. And Judge had fanned 60 times in 234 plate appearances.

“He has a chance to be the total package,” said SWB manager Al Pedrique, who also has managed Judge with Class-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton. “Once he is consistent with his strike zone … and he has to handle the pitch middle away on a more consistent basis. But he’s still young.”

Judge turned 24 in April, so he’s no longer a wunderkind and he needs to show that he’s developing.

Scouts differ on the topic. There is a concern among some that he has started to plateau and might not be able to fix the issues he has at the plate.

Others, like an AL scout who has seen him several times this season, said he compares favorably to Tigers prospect Steven Moya and the Rangers’ Joey Gallo.

“I’d still take him over Moya and Gallo,” the scout said. “It’s not about right now. I think he has a higher ceiling and less holes to fix.”

Moya, who is also 6-7 and 24 years old, and Gallo, 22, are having better seasons in the minors, but Wilson is preaching patience.

“It’s gonna take some time, but when he gets it, he can be really special,” Wilson said. “It may not show up today or tomorrow. It might show up next month or in September if he’s in the big leagues.”

The key, according to veteran teammate Nick Swisher, is keeping it simple.

“It’s hard being a prospect,” said Swisher, trying to revive his career with SWB. “I was there. It seems like you’ve got 40,000 people trying to tell you how to hit. A lot of people want to put their stamp on you, so you have to learn how to be your own coach. He’s gonna have a great career. We just don’t know when that’s gonna happen.”