Aaron Boone sticking with Aaron Judge as Yankees' No. 3 hitter: 'He's our guy'

Gary Phillips, New York Daily News on Oct 28, 2024

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK — Aaron Judge has hit third in every game he’s played in this season. And he will hit third in however many more games he plays in.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone made that known before Game 3 of the World Series on Monday, responding “yeah” when asked if the struggling superstar will be the Yankees’ No. 3 hitter the rest of the way.

“He’s our guy,” Boone later added, “and I’m confident he’ll get it going.”

Judge is having another poor postseason, as he was 6 for 40 (.150) with two home runs, six RBIs and 19 strikeouts entering Game 3. His shortcomings took the World Series stage in Los Angeles, as the presumptive AL MVP went 1 for 9 with six strikeouts as the Yankees lost two games to the Dodgers.

“It definitely eats at you,” Judge said after going 0 for 4 with three strikeouts in the Yankees’ 4-2, Game 2 loss. “You want to contribute and help the team, so I gotta keep working. Gotta keep swinging. I can’t sit here and feel bad for myself. Nobody’s feeling bad for me, so you just gotta show up and do the work.”

Judge went on to say that he’s expanding the zone too much and that he needs to practice more patience. He added that his mechanics are “getting there” and that he’s “getting close.”

On Monday, Boone said, “It’s as simple as timing, which is ultimately gonna get you to swing at the right pitches and get his swing off.”

Boone also said that Judge’s recent slump is “probably a little bit similar” to the one he endured in April. Judge went on a historic tear after that, but he had nearly a full season to work with.

On Saturday, Judge acknowledged that that’s not his current reality.

“I definitely gotta step up,” Judge said. “I gotta do my job. Guys around me are doing their job, getting on base. I’m failing backing them up. So we gotta turn it around in Game 3.”

Judge’s woes at the plate have also come with plenty of ridicule from a championship-starved fan base. However, Boone is not worried about all the noise impacting the Yankees’ captain.

“He’s as good as I’ve ever seen at handling big league life and the game,” Boone said. “So he’s going to break out at some point. Hopefully it’s today, and moving forward in his career, he’s going to have great series too. There’s no doubt in my mind. A little bit of it is just baseball.”