Aaron Judge’s slump, which shall not be named, risks dragging the Yankees down

In the strange, paranormal world known as punches, where lucky socks or a borrowed bat are believed to carry superpowers, there is one unwelcome five-letter sidekick who might as well be known as He Who Shall Not Be Named. Tricksters don’t even like to use the word “decline”, no less admit that such an enemy exists, such are its negative forces.

“I’m not in a slump,” master tough sensei Yogi Berra once said. “I just don’t hit.”

However, in the worst-case scenario, the decline is certain, even if it is unspeakable. For Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, it became as big as the man himself. This cannot be ignored.

One of the great sluggers of this generation can’t get out of his way. He takes hits and swings balls. He is late to fastballs and early to breaking pitches. He has scored 19 times in 11 games this season while batting .150.

Game 2 of the World Series on Saturday was a new low. Judge hit pitches out of the zone three times, just the 16th time of his career. Again, the Yankees could not survive without the positive energy from their captain, losing 4–2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers to lose the series two games to none.

The referee never said the word “slump” after the game as he parried different versions of the question: What’s wrong? He didn’t have to say it. Although he was held accountable, Judge cited one of the root causes of his downfall as the number of times he used the same two words with emphasis:

“I definitely do reached step up I reached do your job.”

“Especially with Gleyber (Torres) and what Juan (Soto) has done at the top of the lineup, I reached support them.”

“They’re going to keep getting on base. I reached drive them away or move them.”

“My guys are going to keep giving me rides, but I did reached come and take them too.”

“It’s plain and simple. I reached start swinging strikes.”

“I have to.” This is a revealing recognition of the striker’s pressing. Judge knows how important he is to the Yankees. At 32 years old, he knows he waited until his professional career to get a chance to play in the World Series. And even worse, he knows that this October slump has been going on for years. He’s collecting a legacy of empty postseason at-bats that is becoming increasingly difficult to turn around.

Through 55 postseason games, Judge is a career .199 hitter, striking out 34% of his plate appearances, nearly matching Mike Zunino’s career regular season mark. Judge has swung 85 times — 12 more than anyone else in postseason history through 55 games (next closest is Cody Bellinger, 73).

Someone asked if there is any one factor that can be noticed?

“Just widening the zone,” he said. “You know, that’s really what it comes down to. You have to get the pitch in the zone and control it. And if not, don’t try to do anything.”

This is an obvious place to start. Judge chased pitches during the regular season at a career-low 18.7%. In the postseason, it rose to 29.3%. He is 0-for-10 on 34 swings.

But it is more than that. It’s mechanical. Manager Aaron Boone talked about Judge not being able to get into the load position in time to make a good swing. Sometimes he kicked in a slightly open stance and sometimes in a neutral stance, which served him well in May when he crawled out of his a season-opening 35-game slump. Its swing is more uphill. He falls at the plate when he misses a pitch, indicating a balance issue. Teammate Anthony Rizzo suspects a timing problem.

“It’s one of those intervals,” Rizzo recalled of the Nameless One. “You know, I think it only takes one feeling. If you’re asking (what’s wrong), the first thing is probably just timing.”

But there’s a mental component that’s starting to surface: an inability to get off your “A” swing when the moment is right. He often finds himself between his shaky decisions.

I was referring to a specific pitch from Game 2 — a 2-and-0 94-mph fastball from Dodgers starter Yoshi Yamamoto it froze him in the sixth inning when I asked Judge if he felt like he had the pitches to hit.

“Yeah, 2-0 Yamamoto, I think that’s my third at-bat,” Judge said. “It’s like he drove a heater down and inside me. You know, when we’re doing well, we can shoot for it. Then the next pitch is a curveball, which we foul. I just need to swing those two a little bit better.”

The valley Judge walks through today is so deep that Boone looked at the pop-ups for signs of life. He said before the game that the popup against Blake Treinen in Game 1 had the makings of a turning point for Judge.

“He threw me four stitches, like up and in, and I just missed it,” Judge said. “In this situation, I would have liked to do the job, but I felt better. But like I said, it all comes down to the fact that I have to get the job done.

“We are getting closer. … I couldn’t carry that over into this game. You know, like I said, it all comes down to being disciplined in my strike zone. That’s what got us to this position all year. So it’s just a matter of getting back to it.”

Had to. Also give credit to how well the Dodgers pitched Judge in the World Series. In Game 2, they threw the umpire 21 pitches. Only twice did they double in the same innings in the at-bat — and each time Judge was tricked and struck out in the chase.

Here’s how Yamamoto rated the judge in terms of pitch-to-pitch speed changes:

First battle starting at 96 mph: -16, +17, -10, -8, -7, -1.

Second battle, starting at 80 mph: -5, +21, -10, +9.

Third battle, starting at 95 mph: -6, +5, -18, +16.

It’s an exquisite, speed-changing performance.

Judge is the type of impressive player who is always just one shot away. For example, he snapped his April slump by hitting a homer off Tarik Skubal on May 5 in his first at-bat as a right-hander.

“You have to make such a big plate,” teammate Giancarlo Stanton said, holding his hands together in a hamburger shape. “You feel like your plate is so big,” he spread his arms out to the sides, “and you just have to squeeze it. No, it’s not mechanical. He will help us win games here.”

Time and opportunities begin to slip away. Judge has 55 postseason games under his belt. His team faces a real must-win Game 3 on Monday. He is one of the truly great players in the game and the emotional core of this team. He has reached do something, and quickly. And isn’t that how we ended up here, in the land of the unspeakable?