With his 414-foot home run to center field in the seventh inning, New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge signaled that his bat still has life. It can be a huge difference-maker in the American League Championship Series. Judge came up in the seventh inning with the top of the lineup, Gleyber Torres, and Juan Soto, on base. Judge swung at the first pitch and missed. He then took the second pitch for a ball. On the third pitch, the Judge’s decision was handed down.
With the HR, Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees broke open what had been a close 3-2 game to take a 6-2 lead at the Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York. The Cleveland Guardians added a meaningless run on a Jose Ramirez HR in the 9th inning, and the Yankees triumphed 6-3 to take a 2-0 lead in the series.
Is New York Yankees Star Judge Back?
Prior to the HR, Aaron Judge had gone 2-17 from the plate for the postseason with only one extra-base hit and just one RBI. To say that Judge was in a slump may be an exaggeration given the small sample size, but the Yankee faithful were growing restless.
In the first inning, Aaron Judge strode to the plate with Torres on third, Soto on first, and no one out. After taking a first-pitch strike, Judge popped up in the infield in what appeared to be a routine out. But Guardians shortstop, Brayan Rcchio, misplayed the ball, perhaps affected by the wind to leave Judge safe at first and to score Torres.
The Yankee centerfielder came to the plate again in the third inning with two on and two out. After faking a pitch for a ball and fouling off two straight pitches, Judge hit a high fly ball to center field that scored Anthony Rizzo from third. Judge then led off the fifth inning and flew out to center.
What Aaron Judge’s HR Means
At this point in the game, the casual baseball fan, perhaps with leaning allegiance to the Yankees, might think, “Great…Judge still can’t hit.” But the misses are just as telling as the spectacular home runs.
Pop-ups and fly balls are often the result of striking the baseball slightly under the intended target. You’ll hear announcers say that a batter didn’t quite get all of it. That phrase is as much a truism as it is cliché.
By popping up in the first and flying out in the third and fifth, Judge was getting closer and closer to perfecting the swing that would pay off in the seventh.
They say that baseball is a game of inches. (Actually, “they” tend to say that about a lot of sports). But for pitchers and hitters, the game is even more precise than a single inch.
A millimeter higher or lower on a hitter’s swing can be the difference between three fly balls, one never leaving the infield, and a towering home run to thrill the crowd and break open the game.
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