Aaron Judge is one of the best baseball players on the planet.
His numbers speak for themselves. Over his ten years in Major League Baseball, Judge has an average of .294, an OPS of 1.028, an OPS+ of 179, and 368 home runs. This year alone, he led the league in batting average, OBP, slugging percentage, OPS, OPS+, total bases, and runs.
But you don’t need those numbers to know that; you can use another one. Head to any youth or high school baseball tournament and count the number of 99 jerseys you see. You’ll run out of fingers and toes before you reach bracket play.
However, if there is one blemish on a resume that has Judge destined for Cooperstown, it is his playoff production. Or more specifically, his lack thereof. During the New York Yankees’ run to the World Series last year, Judge slashed .184/.344/.408, with three home runs over 14 games.
And the Yankees came up short against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Over his storied career, Judge’s playoff OPS (including this season) clocks in at .817, well off his regular-season mark of 1.028. While there are certainly reasons to explain this — better pitching, more relief pitching, more high-leverage situations — when you play for the Yankees October success, and rings, are what matter most.
But is Judge completing that part of his resume this October?
Entering Tuesday night’s ALDS Game 3 against the Toronto Blue Jays, and with the Yankees facing elimination, Judge had already started to change that narrative. Ahead of first pitch against the Blue Jays, Judge had posted a 1.024 OPS, along with eight hits (leading all players in the playoffs) over his first five games.
But he had just one extra-base hit, a double against the Blue Jays in Game 1 of the ALDS, a game New York lost 10-1.
While Toronto took an early 6-1 lead Tuesday night, Judge and the Yankees battled back, chipping away at the Blue Jays’ advantage. New York cut that lead to 6-3 in the bottom of the third, keyed by a double from Judge and then a heads-up play from the Yankees captain, as he got caught in a rundown between home and third long enough to allow Giancarlo Stanton to advance to second.
Stanton scored later in the inning as the Yankees pulled within three.
Then came the bottom of the fourth, a frame that Yankees fans may remember forever.
Toronto third baseman Addison Barger, who had entered the game in the third as a pinch hitter, dropped Austin Wells’ wind-blown popup in shallow left field to put Wells aboard with one out. Barger had shifted closer to shortstop with the lefty up, but had to track the popup a long way and could not complete the catch:
(A note for the young outfielders reading this: You have priority on this play; call the infielder off.)
Trent Grisham walked, and Toronto manager John Schneider turned to hard-throwing right-hander Louis Varland to face Judge. Varland started Judge out with a knuckle-curve at 90 mph on the outside corner that Judge fouled off, before he put a 100-mph fastball by him for strike two.
Varland made arguably his best pitch of the at-bat next, a 99.7-mph fastball on the inside corner, but somehow, Judge made an even better swing:
The “Ump Cam” view is absolutely worth a look:
As Judge waited at home plate, every Yankees fan watching both at the stadium and around the world waited. After what felt like an eternity, the ball clanged off the foul pole in left field, a three-run blast that tied the game at six.
And kicked off bedlam in the Bronx.
New York went on to win Tuesday night by a final score of 9-6, and if you are a believer in momentum, you might think it is on their side. Today they’ll run out Cam Schlittler to the bump, the start of the decisive Game 3 against the Boston Red Sox just last week. The rookie went eight innings in that game, striking out six and keeping the Red Sox scoreless.
Toronto is treating Game 4 as a “bullpen game.” Varland will get the start, but Schneider will have every available arm ready to go tonight.
And as Game 4 looms, Judge has a slash line of .500/.577/.727 with one mammoth home run as well this postseason.
If the Yankees can win tonight, they’ll force a decisive Game 5 back in Toronto.
With one of the best players on the planet rounding out his Hall of Fame resume, leading the way.
