BT & Sal: Aaron Judge must break out of slump, play at his regular season peak in October

Aaron Judge had a quiet night at the plate against Seth Lugo and the Royals on Tuesday night, finishing 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts in a 5-0 loss in the Bronx.

Judge, who was on an otherworldly tear for months earlier in the season, is suddenly slumping, batting just .211 over his last 16 games, and hasn’t hit a home run in his last 14 contests. With the playoffs right around the corner, BT and Sal agree that the Yankee captain needs to turn it on and lead the Bombers through October to quell some lingering narratives about Judge in October.

“If Aaron Judge just languishes the rest of the way and the Orioles win the division...and Judge goes the last 30-35 days hitting .201 with an OPS of .612 and the Yankees go out with a whimper in October, don’t tell me that Aaron Judge is above criticism,” BT said. “He’s not.

“He has to go out and finish the job...He needs his A-Rod in 2009 postseason. Give us a Reggie moment. Let’s go.”

BT believes Judge will bust out of his slump in time for the playoffs, and Sal does as well. But right now, he looks in funk like he did to start the season, and like he did the last time the Yanks were in the playoffs. That year, some pointed to the potential fatigue following Judge’s chase for home run history. This year, some could point to Judge’s heavy workload at a demanding position like center field. Regardless, Sal says there are no excuses for Judge when the playoffs begin, so he has a few weeks to get right.

“At some point, Judge has to do what he has done at his peak in the regular season and carry the Yankees to a World Series,” Sal said. “In the postseason, there cannot be any excuses. He has to deliver at a high level.

“You’re the best player I’ve ever seen. At some point, he needs to do it in the postseason.”