The Yankees now face a daunting 0-2 series hole after dropping both games in Los Angeles, and will now be fighting to essentially save their season in game three back in the Bronx on Monday night.
They likely won’t be able to survive that fight without their captain and MVP, who has looked anything but through his first two World Series games.
Aaron Judge’s postseason struggles continued in game two, finishing 0-for-4 with three strikeouts after fanning three times in game one. Judge looked overmatched by Yoshinobu Yamamoto and continued to look in between in several at-bats, a far cry from his regular season self, which produced 58 home runs and one of the best offensive seasons in franchise history.
In game one, Judge’s night was about missed opportunities, failing to do damage on multiple breaking balls left out over the plate, including his first at-bat against Jack Flaherty and a critical at-bat against Blake Treinen in the ninth inning, which ended in a popout after he fouled off a sweeper that broke over the middle of the plate. On Saturday, Judge’s second strikeout came after watching a 2-0 fastball knee high and right over the middle of the plate. He swung over a nasty inside splitter to end the inning two pitches later. In the ninth, Juan Soto started a rally with a single off the wall, but Judge struck out again against Treinen. The game ended with the bases loaded, the Judge strikeout a big one in spoiling the Bombers' comeback bid.
Judge has been uncharacteristically undisciplined in this postseason, and that trend only seems to have intensified in his first World Series. Per ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez, Judge’s second strikeout against Yamamoto was his 47th swing and miss of the playoffs, upping his whiff rate to a whopping 43.1 percent, which would have easily been the worst in the league during the regular season. Judge’s chase rate in the regular season was just 18.7 percent, the second-lowest in baseball behind teammate Juan Soto. It was up to 30.7 percent in game two.
Many wondered if Judge’s clutch home run against Emmanuel Clase in game three of the ALCS would be the turning point in his postseason career, which has been highly scrutinized over the years. Instead, the same issues with expanding the zone and missing fat strikes have continued, and the Yankees desperately need Judge to find himself and return to MVP mode.
The Yanks could use help in other areas as well to turn the series around. Carlos Rodon was bad in game two, while Austin Wells and Alex Verdugo continue to provide next to nothing offensively at the bottom of the order. But really, none of it matters if the team’s most important player continues to be a net negative in the middle of the order. If Judge isn’t capitalizing on the many opportunities created by Gleyber Torres and Soto atop the order, the Yankees season and playoff run won’t last much longer, but the questions about Judge’s playoff pedigree and pinstriped legacy will carry on with greater angst until his next opportunity for redemption.