Monday night brought the best of Aaron Judge and the worst of Aaron Judge. There was his majestic solo homer run in the fifth inning but two more strikeouts and a costly error in right field that allowed two runs to score.
So far in his brief major league career, that’s been Judge, feast or famine.
He launched a monumental blast over the bleachers in left-center field in the fifth inning, turning around a 2-0 Jose De Leon fastball for his fourth homer of the season in the Yankees’ 8-2 loss to the Dodgers. The drive, which landed well up in the bleachers in left field, went an estimated 436 feet with an exit velocity of 115.2 mph, according to Statcast.
“Not many people go there,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “There’s a lot in there. For him, it’s getting experience and continuing to make minor adjustments.”
As majestic as the home run appeared, though, that was how ugly the second-inning drop on a Chase Utley fly ball appeared. Judge admitted later he called for the ball too late, which may have led to confusion with center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury.
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Judge, the Yankee’s first-round draft pick (32nd overall) in the 2013 draft out of Fresno State, has hit four long home runs, but overall he has been shaky offensively since he was called up form Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Aug. 13. He’s struck out 41 times in 83 at-bats while boasting an anemic .181 batting average and .607 OPS.
The Yankees even had minor league hitting coordinator James Rowson around the team last week to help Judge snap out of his slump. He has shown some positive signs lately, hitting safely in four of his last five starts, though the high strikeout rate has continued.
“I feel great, I felt great the past couple of weeks,” the 24-year-old Judge said. “I got to keep building off that at-bat, and take it into [Tuesday’s] game.”