COMING UP HUGE
B OSTON — Before every game, Yankees hitting coach Marcus Thames seeks out Aaron Judge and tells him “lead the way,” a mantra designed to have many meanings.
In just his second full season, Judge has emerged as a vital voice on the club, so Thames wants the slugger offering insights in hitters meetings. He wants Judge never to diminish in his effervescent, positive, team-first presence in the dugout. And, of course, he wants Judge to dictate outcome in the game.
Table-setters usually come in a Brett Gardner or Andrew McCutchen package, not NBA dimensions. But it is the 6-foot-7 Judge, more than any Yankee, who initiates action and scoring for his team. As he goes, so often go the Yankees. It was no coincidence the Yankees’ most unsteady play of the season corresponded to the seven weeks Judge missed with a fractured wrist. His presence makes the Yanks feel better and, of course, also perform much better as a team.
“He is a once in a generation player,” bench coach Josh Bard said. “He wakes up every morning thinking not about himself but how he can make a team better, and it sure helps that he is a giant man with super athleticism.”
Judge homered two batters into Saturday night’s game. He now has homered in all three postseason games this season. But it is more than the Bunyanesque power. As Thames said, “he is a pure hitter.” He was behind in the count in each of his first three at-bats against the three different pitchers and yet hit balls 113.3 mph, 109.8 mph and 109.3 mph. Jeff Passan of Yahoo noted that power hitters such as Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy and Anthony Rendon hit three balls 109 mph all season. Judge did it in five innings. Of a playoff game.
“He’s gone to another stratosphere as a hitter,” Bard said. “He hits good pitching and he is better than ever at shutting down on that slider away [that is not a strike].”
The Yankees beat the Red Sox to knot this Division Series at a game apiece in a familiar fashion with a strong start (Masahiro Tanaka), a phalanx of power bullpen arms and homers. Gary Sanchez had two of them, including a 479-foot three-run homer that turned tense 3-1 into a comfortable five-run lead in the seventh.
But after losing Game 1 the Yanks needed an instant jolt that all would be good on this Saturday night. They needed a punch to assure that Red Sox starter David Price would begin to crawl back into his misery when it comes to facing the Yankees or working in October. Judge did that by turning a 1-2 Price cutter into a 445-foot statement on how Game 2 would go.
“I’m just trying to have quality at-bats,” Judge said. It was familiar understatement from him. His words do not honor his value. Judge hit a two-run homer that served as a near knockout in the first inning of the wild card triumph over the A’s. He led off the ninth Friday with a homer off Boston closer Craig Kimbrel before the Yanks fell short 5-4. Thus, he joined Bernie Williams (twice) and Alex Rodriguez as the lone Yankees to homer in three straight playoff games in the wild card era.
He led off the seventh Saturday with his softest blow of the game. He fell behind yet again, 1-2 to Eduardo Rodriguez, and got a ball in play, topping a grounder to the right side. Rodriguez did not cover first and Judge reached with a single. Three batters later, Sanchez hit his threerun homer. Game 2 was decided with the short and long of it.
In three playoff games, Judge is 7-for-12 with four extra-base hits, two walks and two strikeouts. Remember, we are just a few weeks removed from wondering if Judge could make it all the way back to deliver impact after the wrist fracture. He did not return until mid-September and managed just one more regular-season homer thereafter.
He said the motivation to get back was not the potential for huge October at-bats, but because “I don’t likes sitting on the bench.” There was something Jeter-ian in that response — and also in his postseason play. Dating to 2017, he is 12-for-28 in his last eight playoff games with six homers. He is the big man rising to the biggest moments.
Aaron Judge is following the request of his hitting coach.
He is leading the way.