ESPN: Yankees star player Aaron Judge receive brawny message from jays manager.
Aaron Judge, the New York Yankees’ baseball destroying machine, is currently on a tear and leading the team in a close AL East division race. Judge is a major factor in the Yankees’ current third-place finish in ClutchPoints’ MLB power rankings. Judge can put New York on his back in any given game, as evidenced by his four home runs and seven RBI in his last five contests. John Schneider of the Toronto Blue Jays used a novel tactic against the slugger on Saturday after realizing this.
Judge was placed on first after Schneider called an intentional walk in the second inning of the game as there was nobody else on base. There is not much to the reasoning. To be honest, I didn’t want to watch him swing. I believe he belongs in a different category than any other player in the league. According to MLB expert Bryan Hoch on X, Schneider said, “He can change the course of a game with one swing.”
Schneider had previously witnessed Judge’s power in a single blow. The Yankees star hit a two-run home run in the first inning for the second time in two days. Judge reached base after Juan Soto, the right fielder, singled in the game on Saturday. The formidable batter gave the Blue Jays’ starter, Jose Berrios, a 426-ball to end the Jays’ one-run lead and give New York a 2-1 edge.
Schneider learned his lesson the following time Judge batted, walking a hitter intentionally in the opening two innings of a game in which no one was on base. Jorge Castillo of ESPN claims that it hasn’t occurred since 1972 because it is such a rarity.
Judge is undoubtedly a unique player. In 110 games this season for the Yankees, he now has an MLB-high 41 home runs, 103 RBI, 87 runs scored, and 7.6 WAR. In terms of on-base percentage, slugging, OPS, OPS+, and total bases, the past MVP is the best in baseball. Judge is simply having the best power-hitting season of his career.
Judge’s intentional pass, which Schneider requested, was his 55th of the season and this season. In the end, the Blue Jays lost the game 8-3, thus it was not enough to save them.
Although it’s reasonable to argue that Judge was treated similarly to Barry Bonds during the deliberate walk, Bonds’ intentional walk career far outweighs that of the Yankees’ slugger. With an MLB-high 62 home runs in his MVP season of 2022, Judge leads all players with 19 free passes.
