Kansas City, Mo. — Judge Aaron was close to heading home after his first game this year.
But in Game 67, the top hitter in baseball finally took a break.
About a week ago, Aaron Boone mentioned Thursday might be a good day for a rest day. It seemed like it could work, since it wouldn’t disrupt his spot in the lineup too much.
Judge responded by saying that if he was back in the game in his first two appearances against the Royals, Boone might need to rethink that decision.
Sure enough, Judge hit a home run on Tuesday and followed it up with another on Wednesday, making his case to his manager.
“He looked at me like, ‘Hey…'” Boone recalled with a grin on Thursday at Kaufman Stadium. “I was reconsidering. But I think we both wanted to maintain some discipline about this.”
Last season, Judge began with 67 games before resting on June 10. This year, he played his first 66 before taking a breather on June 12, though Boone emphasized this was more of a coincidental decision rather than something methodical.
The Yankees were early into a stretch of 16 games across 16 days, and they had a hotel arranged in Boston for early Friday. They would have to play Sunday games after Saturday night games, and the Royals were pitching left-handed in the initial two games of the series.
“I never want to take him out of the lineup, but I think it’ll be beneficial in the long term to keep him fresh,” Boone said. “Today seemed like a reasonable choice.”
After Judge smashed another home run on Wednesday, Boone had to think hard about his decision. Despite Judge’s impressive streak of games with at least one homer, he ultimately went with his gut.
Standing at 6-foot-7 and weighing 282 pounds, Judge had a standout season last year, playing a career-high of 158 games and looking to match that this year—assuming health permits.
In the early part of the season, it felt like he was finally catching his breath.
Throughout those initial 66 games, Judge has an impressive .394 batting average with an OPS of 1.269, hitting 25 home runs and driving in 59 runs.
He reached base safely in 62 of those games and multiple times in 51, leading all of MLB.
Interestingly, he’s the only modern player to achieve such highs in home runs and batting average over the club’s first 66 games.
“I can’t keep up with him right now,” Clark Schmidt remarked. “Every time he steps up, it’s like he’s ready to do some damage. If he’s not hitting a home run, it’s likely going to be a hit.”
Judge was a contender for the triple crown in both of his MVP seasons, although he lagged slightly on average batting.
This season, he’s leading the American League with a batting average of .328 (tied with rookie Jacob Wilson) and has 28 RBIs—just above Rafael Dates from the Red Sox and Mariners’ catcher Cal Raleigh.
Considering his solid defense in right field, his WAR (Wins Above Replacement) of 5.9 is significantly higher than any player in the majors, with Lawley trailing at 4.0.
“The surprising part is he doesn’t seem to be fully in his groove,” Boone observed. “It’s incredible. I think he’s just getting hits and doing his usual. Yet, in some ways, I still feel like he’s holding back, which honestly makes me a bit uneasy.”
