Judge says time with Thunder helped mold him into slugger he is now
NEW YORK » “Be where your feet are.”
Aaron Judge’s size 17 spikes weren’t always digging into the storied grounds of Yankee Stadium, but it was that very advice that he received from-then Trenton Thunder hitting coach P.J. Pilittere back when he was honing his craft at Arm & Hammer Park in 2015 that helped him get there.
“Especially in the minor leagues, you’re always wondering about who’s ahead of you and what’s going to happen or if you’re going to get called up or what’s going on with the team ahead of you,” Judge told The Trentonian in a 1-on-1 interview.
“But really, my main goal was to focus on what I was doing there in Double-A. The minute I start thinking about other things like who’s ahead of me or who’s behind me, it distracts from what I’m trying to do and what I’m trying to learn and develop in Double-A. I was always focused on being in the present and being in the moment there.”
The approach paid off for Judge, who entered the 2015 season as the game’s 53rdbest prospect according to Baseball America, and did little to disappoint by earning a late-June promotion to Triple-A Scranton after hitting .284 with 12 home runs and 44 RBIs in 63 games for the Thunder.
It may seem shocking, given his video-game type numbers that have helped him emerge as one of the faces of baseball this season with the Yankees, that those Double-A numbers weren’t even more impressive. However, Judge says making the adjustment to the pitching prospect laden Eastern League that year was one of the biggest challenges he faced in the minors.
“I think developing, especially in Double-A, it felt like in that league there were a lot of good prospects,” he said.
“The biggest thing I felt was that was probably the biggest jump for me in leagues. It really wasn’t much of a jump from LowA to High-A and from Double-A to Triple-A, there were a lot of older, veteran guys who were there and maybe had lower velocities but knew how to pitch. In Double-A, you had a lot of quality arms who were in the mid to upper 90’s or close to 100 miles per hours every night, so I think that kind of got me ready in seeing better velocity and better stuff and kind of got me ready for the big leagues.”
And what an experience it’s been for him in the big leagues so far. The 25-yearold, who memorably won this year’s Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game in Miami, broke Mark McGwire’s rookie record of 49 homers with a pair of blasts during Monday’s matinee against the Kansas City Royals.
While he’s played a huge role in getting the Yankees back to the postseason, he won’t soon forget his time with one of the Baby Bombers clubs that helped get him to where he is today.
“Just the way they run that whole team there, from the GM down, it was a fun atmosphere,” said Judge of his stay in Trenton. “You’ve got the bat dogs running out there, Derby and Rookie, and I enjoyed every minute of it. The fans were always great ,,, there were always quite a few fans there, and I enjoyed it all.”