Let’s just face it. New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge isn’t having a good year, having a sophomore slump come a little bit late. Obviously, his oblique injury didn’t help anything, but as the season rolls on, Judge seems to be getting worse.
Is it time for Aaron Boone to drop Judge in the batting order?
Ugly Splits
Aaron Judge has been struggling the most in August, and also hasn’t played well outside of New York.
Judge has just a .208 batting average in August entering Thursday’s game, and a .209 average away from home. On Tuesday, Judge pulled his first home run of the season for a 475 foot majestic blast against the Athletics. It was his 13th of the year, but quite concerning that it was his first to left field.
His last home run to left before that was coincidentally also against the Athletics, but in the 2018 AL Wild Card game.
Since his injury, his batting stats have gradually gotten lower. He hit .333 in June, .258 in July, now .208 in August. Over the past month, he’s batting just .202. Judge also plays significantly worse in night games.
Though he is reluctant to do so, Aaron Boone needs to drop Judge in the order. I get it’s just a slump and that he’s bat second since the Joe Girardi days, but there are guys like Gleyber Torres and Gio Urshela who are hot and often sit at the bottom of the order and could use some more at-bats.
There is no doubt in my mind that Judge will break out of his slump, just the Yankees need to try things with him in a different slot in the order.