New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has suffered through an early summer slump, but came to life enough to make a bit of team history against a division rival this week.
Judge hit a home run and was issued an intentional walk in the June 20 game against the Baltimore Orioles, giving him the franchise record for that combination of stats. The team shared some praise for Judge after the accomplishment, sharing a four-word post celebrating his homer.
Aaron Judge in the History Books
Friday’s game was the 28th time in Judge’s career that he both hit a home run and was issued an intentional walk in a game, pushing him past legend Mickey Mantle for the franchise record in that combination of stats.
As Billy Heyen of The Sporting News noted, Judge and Mantle had an advantage over some other Yankees greats, but it’s an impressive accomplishment nonetheless.
“This comes with a key caveat: Intentional walks weren’t an official stat until 1955,” Heyen wrote. “Surely, the likes of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig had this happen once or twice. But we can only go by the statistics we have, and they say Judge stands alone.”
Though the Yankees lost the game, the team took the opportunity to celebrate Judge’s home run with a post on X.
“That’s a Captain Crush,” the team wrote in its post.
Aaron Judge Trying to Bust Out of Slump
Judge’s home run came amid a cold stretch for the Yankees, who lost six in a row before snapping it late in the week. Judge himself struggled during that stretch, straying unusually far outside the strike zone.
The slugger said he’s trying to stay even-keeled, knowing that slumps are inevitable over the course of a full MLB season.
“That’s baseball,” Judge said, via ESPN. “We know what we signed up for. You’re going to play 162. You’re going to hit a little rut like this, but you can’t give up. You can’t mope about it. You just got to show up the next day and you got to be ready to play.”
Though Judge remains the frontrunner to win AL MVP for a third time, he is coming off a stretch where he went 1-for-19 with 11 strikeouts. Judge said his slump comes down to a case of failing to execute.
“Guys are pitching, they’re doing their job,” Judge said. “Sometimes we’re faltering on doing our job. But it’s tough to say. I think it just comes down to us not executing, us not doing our job. Maybe a little passive in certain situations. But all we can do is show up tomorrow ready to go.”
Despite the slump, the Yankees have been able to maintain a 1.5-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East, still riding their hot start in April and May.
The Yankees continued to crawl out of their slump on Saturday, beating the Orioles 9-0. It was an uneven game for Judge despite the win, with the slugger going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and two walks.
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