KANSAS CITY, Mo. — And for his 68th game, Aaron Judge was rested.
The Yankees’ star captain was left out of the starting lineup for the first time this season, but the team still managed to win the series opener against the Royals, 4-2, at Kauffman Stadium.
Trent Grisham started in center field and Jamai Jones started in right field on a night when Juan Soto was the designated hitter.
Manager Aaron Boone said a delay in the team’s flight – it arrived around 3 a.m. – and the rigors of a long season were what ultimately led him to bench his superstar.
“When you’re playing every day, you come in a little tired at this time of year,” Boone said of Judge. [game] That’s one of the things I wrote down.”
If it feels like Boone is benching God, there’s a reason for it.
No one in baseball this season has reached the level Judge has recently reached, including Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Soto, all of whom played on the same field as Judge this weekend.
But Judge isn’t just better than many of this year’s best sluggers — he may be better than he was two seasons ago.
Judge’s first two-plus months of this season have been statistically stronger than the first two-plus months of 2022, when he hit 62 home runs.
“It feels like 2022 again,” said Nestor Cortez, who watched both seasons up close.
As of Monday’s start, Judge had played in all 67 games and had improved his OPS (1.139, up from 1.026 at this point in 2022), batting average (.301 to .305) and RBIs (50 to 59) from his record-setting season.
In the Yankees’ first 67 games two years ago, Judge appeared in 65 games and hit 25 home runs, one more than the 24 he had entering Monday’s stretch. While a little short of his career best, Judge is the only player who can boast a 58-home run pace.
“I think it’s similar,” Cortes said of Judge in 2022 and 2024. “Just like in 2022, I feel like now I’m expecting a home run every at-bat.”
And, at least peripherally, a Triple Crown was on the line: Judge led the majors in home runs, was second in RBIs (behind Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez) and was fourth in the AL in batting average, bettered by his Series opponent, Bobby Witt Jr. (.320).
For the second time in his career, Judge might be better compared not to his contemporaries but to ghosts of the past, except this time, at 32 years old, he’ll be going head-to-head with his 30-year-old self.
Judge’s numbers are impressive, but what’s particularly remarkable is the way he’s re-elevated himself in the discussion of baseball’s greatest players — going from cold shoulder to rabid popularity in a matter of seconds.
It was just a little over a month ago that there was a big consternation about what happened to Judge. Judge was hitting .197 with six homers and a .725 OPS through his first 33 games with Soto at the helm and leading the offense during that time. Was it an injury that cut short spring training, or was Judge just experiencing extreme bad luck, or was Judge just not finding his groove yet?
Whatever the reason, the next five or so weeks were remarkable.
In 34 games since May 3, Judge has hit 18 homers, a .540 on-base percentage and an impressive 1.566 OPS. Last week, Judge was nominated for AL Player of the Week after batting .500 (10-for-20) with three homers, 12 RBIs, a 1.200 slugging percentage and a .630 on-base percentage in six games.
“Obviously he’s playing phenomenal,” Boone said. “Obviously you don’t want to take him out of the lineup. … But we feel like he needs a day of rest.”
At 32, Judge is trying to repeat the history he made when he was 30.
He’s going to have to slow down at some point, right?
“He’s taking care of himself and preparing himself really well,” Cortez said. “I don’t think we’re going to see him slow down anytime soon.”
“What he’s doing is great, but it’s hard to sustain. But if anyone can do it, it’s him.”
