Big bat in the Bronx:
Young slugger looms large in Bronx revival
Aaron Judge’s power surge has given the rejuvenated Yankees an early-season jolt.
Aaron Judge has never CHICAGO been much able to hide away, even before his early spring home run binge.
Baseball’s first hitter to stand at least 6-7 and weigh 282 pounds according to Elias Sports Bureau, Judge isn’t big on talking about his spring accomplishments. Yet, the Yankees’ No. 99 lights up when the subject turns to his teammates and his appreciation of the game’s history.
“I’ve always felt it was important to honor the ones that paved the way before you,” Judge said in the cramped visitors’ clubhouse at Wrigley Field last weekend, wearing his now-familiar blue No. 42 T-shirt.
“I wouldn’t be here in this position if it wasn’t for Jackie Robinson, (Roberto) Clemente, a lot of those guys,” Judge said. “It’s a blessing. So anytime I can honor them in any way, either on the field or off the field, I’m going to try to do that.”
Judge, 25, just isn’t going to take any bows for his April American League player of the month award or for being the youngest player in big-league history to hit at least 13 home runs through his team’s first 26 games of a season.
Other than the increased sale of his No. 99 jersey and the added attention, he said, “Nothing, to be honest, has really changed for me. One good month doesn’t make a good season; one good season doesn’t make a career.”
But it’s making a lot of people take notice of the quiet right fielder from California, too busy running to first base to admire the prodigious distance of his home runs.
“Definitely impressive,” said catcher and teammate Gary Sanchez, who made his own long-ball history last season, tied for the fastest ever to reach 20 homers (51 games).
Through a translator, Sanchez said he had seen Judge have a stretch like this in 2016 at Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Moosic, Pa.).
“He was hitting second, I was hitting third. It felt like almost all the time that he went up there and hit a home run in front of me. Took away an RBI from me,” Sanchez said with a smile. “It’s impressive. But at the same time, I’m not super shocked. “I know the talent he has.” Judge hands the compliments right back to those surrounding him in the order.
“I’ve got (Starlin) Castro, (Chase) Headley, (Brett) Gardner always on base. I’m always coming up with guys in scoring position,” Judge said. “I just feel like I’m in the right place at the right time.”
The Yankees felt that same way during the 2013 Major League Baseball draft, when the selected Judge 32nd overall.
Going back to Judge’s freshman year at Fresno State and his Cape Cod League season, “He just jumped out at you,” Yankees scouting director Damon Oppenheimer said in 2015. “He checks off a lot of things for you. And when we got to know him, that part checked off even more.
“We were impressed with the potential he had to put all those tools together.”
And here are the Yankees, 20-9 and in first place entering Monday, putting together an early-season run that might accelerate the organization’s expectations about contender for a pennant.
“That’s the great thing about this team that’s been surprising for a lot of people, (it’s) that we don’t know who’s going to step up next,” Judge said. “That’s what kind of motivates us: Who’s going to be the guy that steps up and picks everybody up?”
The pinstriped personalities, a mix of youngsters and veterans such as Gardner and Matt Holliday, and the winning have made this “probably one of the most fun teams I’ve ever been a part of,” said Judge, hitting .317 with a .410 on-base percentage and .772 slugging percentage over his first 28 games after a .179/.263/.345 slash line in 27 games in 2016.
Judge might be the one standing out in the crowd, but he’s mostly enjoying the ensemble that is the 2017 Yankees.
“(I’m) just trying to be a part of this lineup and this team,” Judge said. By keeping the same daily focus and attention to preparation, “I think everything will work out.”