WHAT A YEAR!
Judge goes from slumping in minors to superstardom
BALTIMORE — Aaron Judge will get his first glimpse of where he stands in the fan voting for the American League AllS-tar team on Wednesday.
Given his eye-popping stats and highlight-reel worthy homers, the right fielder figures to be among to the top vote-getters in the league.
It’s a far different spot from where he was exactly a year ago, when Judge was in the middle of an 18 at-bat hitless streak with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and saw his average drop to .221 and OPS slip to .657.
Looking back before Tuesday’s 8-3 victory over the Orioles at Camden Yards, where Judge hit a two-run double to bring his RBI total to 37, the 25year-old insisted he never doubted himself.
“Everyone’s been through a rough time,’’ Judge said. “You’re gonna have months when you hit .100 and others when you hit .310. That’s baseball. If I questioned myself, that would have snowballed into the next month, the next game, the next at-bat. I just stayed with my plan and my approach and said ‘This is part of it.’ ”
That’s a significant part of why Judge figures to be in the All-Star Game in July, according to Judge’s hitting coach with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Tom Wilson.
“Having confidence is key when you’re a hitter and Aaron has that,” said Wilson, who is back in the Yankees’ pro scouting department. “He’s a very positive person. And he was able to leave the game at the field every day, so when he was having a hard time, he didn’t bring it with him to the park the next day. He always knew there was a plan.”
The plan was getting the 6-foot-7, 282-pound Judge’s mechanics fixed, which has happened this season.
“I showed him clips of Matt Holliday, who I knew from when we were both with the Rockies,” Wilson said. “They’re both big, strong guys and it took Holliday a while to put it together. He had to work on his leg kick and his hand position.”
Wilson also pointed to contemporaries of Judge such as the Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo.
“I saw him when I was scouting and he really struggled at first,’’ Wilson said. “He totally overhauled his swing. When you have guys that size, a lot of things can go wrong.”
Even the comparison with Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton isn’t completely valid, according to Wilson.
“Aaron is bigger than Stanton,” Wilson said. “I know he has lofty goals and is doing things from the right side of the plate that not many others can do. Really, he’s hitting for average and power that only guys like [Detroit’s Miguel] Cabrera can only do. I don’t see why he can’t keep it up. And even then, he won’t be satisfied.”
For now, Judge said the All-Star Game isn’t on his mind.
“I’ve got a job to do on the field,” Judge said. “The extra stuff would be nice, but I’m more concerned about staying in first place.”
An invitation to the Home Run Derby would seem to be a formality, but Judge said he hasn’t heard from anyone yet.
“That would be fun,’’ said Judge, who added he wasn’t certain if he would participate. “I don’t know. It’s my first time going through all this, so I’m not too sure.’’