NEW YORK -- When Ben Rice launched his 16th home run of the season earlier this week, grabbing a share of the Yankees’ team lead, it seemed only to be a matter of time before Aaron Judge would respond.
That’s how it went in April, when the captain remarked, “I couldn’t let him catch me.” Yet that game this week against the Blue Jays passed without an answer from Judge -- followed by a couple more, including Thursday’s 2-0 loss at Yankee Stadium.
"I’m not doing enough at the plate,” Judge said. “That’s what we’re doing right there. … I wouldn’t say we’re not seeing the ball well. I think it’s about making sure we’re swinging at the right pitches.”
For most players, a couple of hitless nights is unremarkable. Judge, as you may have noticed by a trophy case that includes three American League MVP awards, isn’t most players.
So when Judge struck out four times in Wednesday’s loss to the Jays, then took a collar on Thursday, it prompted questions. Thursday marked Judge’s 10th consecutive game without an RBI, which matches the longest drought of his career (done three times previously). Judge went 1-for-15 in the series against Toronto pitching, with one walk and eight strikeouts.
"He’s just going through it a little bit right now,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Usually, that means good things are coming on the other side. He’s a little in-between, probably. Fastballs got on him, and he was a little out in front of some other pitches.”
Overall, Judge will enter Friday’s series against the Rays batting .250 (46-for-184) with 16 homers and 30 RBIs in 51 games, carrying a .935 OPS. He’s tied with Rice for third in homers among all Major Leaguers and is seventh in OPS.
Boone frequently lauds Judge’s hot streaks by saying that he is simply “playing a different game than everyone else.” Even during the off nights when his performance returns to sea level, Boone said he’s not concerned about his superstar.
“Usually anytime a hitter goes through it, it’s a little timing related,” Boone said. “I think that’s all it is. He’ll get through it, and somebody will pay the price real soon.”
This weekend would be a good time. With the first-place Rays coming to town, Judge knows he and the rest of the lineup will need to put up runs against a tough pitching staff.
“Anytime you’ve got a hot team coming in, it’s going to make it tough,” Judge said. “Especially a team like that, where they took care of business in Tampa when we just saw them. We’ve just got to tighten up a couple of things here with us and we’ll be right where we need to be.
“The offense isn’t too far off. You get a couple of timely hits, you get a couple of walks when you need it, and some good things are going to happen. You’ve just got to get some traffic back out there.”