ESPN: Aaron Judge takes blame for Yankees’ mistakes: ‘It eats at me’
Aaron Judge, the captain of the New York Yankees, is a natural leader. When questioned recently by the media about the Bombers’ failure to make it to the World Series over his tenure, Judge accepted responsibility for his team’s failure.
According to SNY, he stated, “Well, it eats at me every time we don’t finish the job.” Being a member of the team means that I bear a lot of the blame for that. And I feel guilty if we don’t win everything.”
Judge’s self-blame is partially justified. He’s had some respectable playoff runs, particularly in 2018 and 2019, but his postseason performance has been lacking generally. He has only slashed in 198 plate appearances throughout the playoffs.211/.310/.462 is significantly less than his career regular-season line of.288/.406/.604.
But Judge ought not to be so harsh on himself. Despite this, he has still blasted 13 home runs in 44 postseason games, or nearly 50 across 162 games.
Without help, the 32-year-old is unable to win games. Juan Soto is a terrific partner for him, but the rest of the roster is a surefire recipe for disaster.
Additionally, Judge and his offensive teammates can have a fantastic playoffs and still lose if the pitching staff is subpar.
And it might not come as a shock if the Yankees’ pitching falters in the postseason, with every starter save for Carlos Rodon and Gerrit Cole faltering into the postseason and an inexperienced closer who once led the NL in losses while playing in only 12 games.
Therefore, for the Yankees to win a World Series in 2024, a lot of things need to go perfectly. However, if Judge sets an example, as he obviously wants to, perhaps the other players will follow suit and deliver the fans’ long-awaited 28th championship.
