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Part – Newstatenabenn

Demise of Aaron Judge, who will not be named, risks dragging down Yankees
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Demise of Aaron Judge, who will not be named, risks dragging down Yankees

In the strange paranormal world known as knocking, where a pair of lucky socks or a borrowed bat are believed to have superpowers, there is an unwanted five-letter intruder who might as well be known as He Who Shall Not Be Named. Hitters don’t even like to use the word “depression,” let alone recognize that such an enemy exists, such are its negative forces.

“I’m not going through a bad patch,” the sport’s first master, Yogi Berra, once said. “I’m just not hitting.”

However, in the worst case scenario, a recession is unmistakable, even if it is indescribable. For Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, he has grown as much as the man himself. It can’t be ignored.

One of the great sluggers of this generation can’t get out of his own way. He’s taking strikes and swinging at balls. He is late to fastballs and early to breaking pitches. He has struck out 19 times in 11 games this postseason for a .150 average.

Game 2 of the World Series on Saturday was a new low. Judge struck out with three swings on pitches outside the zone, just the 16th time in his career. Once again the Yankees could not survive without the positive energy of their captain. lose 4-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers and fall in the series two games to none.

Judge never uttered the word “fall” after the game, as he dodged different versions of the question: What the hell is happening? He didn’t have to talk about it. As responsible as he was, Judge revealed one of the root causes of his depression by the number of times he used the same two words, with added emphasis:

“I have definitely I have to increase. Yo I have to do my job.”

“Especially with Gleyber (Torres) and what Juan (Soto) did at the front of the lineup, I’ve I have to support them.”

“They are going to continue getting on base. I have I have to bring them inside or move them.”

“My boys are going to continue picking it up, but I have I have to step forward and pick them up too.”

“It’s plain and simple. Yo I have to start swinging at strikes.”

“I have to do it.” It is the telling admission of a pressing batsman. Judge knows how important he is to the Yankees. He knows at 32 years old that he has waited his professional career to have this opportunity to play in the World Series. And what’s worse, he knows that this October crisis lasts for years. He is weaving a legacy of empty at-bats in the postseason that is increasingly difficult to reverse.

In 55 postseason games, Judge is a career .199 hitter who strikes out in 34% of his plate appearances, which is practically Mike Zunino’s regular-season career. Judge has failed 85 times, 12 more than anyone in postseason history through 55 games (the next closest is Cody Bellinger, 73).

Juan Soto celebrates with outfielder Aaron Judge

While Juan Soto (right) remains active in the postseason, Judge continues to struggle. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Are there any factors, someone asked, that you can point to?

“We just expanded the area,” he said. “You know, that’s really what it all comes down to. You have to get a pitch in the zone and drive it. And if you don’t, don’t try to make something happen.”

It’s the obvious place to start. Judge chased down pitches during the regular season at a career-low 18.7% rate. In the postseason it has shot up to 29.3%. He is 0 for 10 on 34 chasing swings.

But it’s more than that. It’s mechanical. Manager Aaron Boone talked about Judge not being able to get to his charging position in time to take a good swing. He has sometimes tapped his feet in a slightly open stance and sometimes in the neutral stance that served him well in May when he emerged from his inaugural 35-game set.my fall His swing is more uphill. He falls over the plate when he misses a pitch, a sign of a balance problem. Teammate Anthony Rizzo suspects a timing issue.

“It’s one of those intervals,” as Rizzo referred to He Who Shall Not Be Named. “You know, I think it just takes a feeling. If you’re wondering (what’s going on), the first thing is that it’s probably timing.”

But there is a mental component that is starting to surface: the inability to hit your “A” swing when the time comes. He often gets caught in the middle of his swing decisions.

He had a specific pitch in mind for Game 2: a 2-0, 94 mph fastball from Dodgers starter Yoshi Yamamoto that paralyzed him in the sixth inning, when I asked Judge if he felt like he had pitches to make.

“Yeah, 2-0, Yamamoto, I think it’s my third at-bat,” Judge said. “He put a heater down and in on me. You know, when we’re going well, we can shoot on it. Then the next pitch is a curveball that we foul. I just have to improve the swing of those two.”

The valley Judge walks through these days is so deep that Boone looked for signs of life in the pop-ups. He said before the game that a fly ball against reliever Blake Treinen in Game 1 had the makings of a turnaround for Judge.

“He threw me a four-seamer, up and in, and I just missed,” Judge said. “I would rather do the job in that situation, but I felt better. But like I said, it all comes down to I have to do the work.

“We are getting closer. …I couldn’t transfer it to this game. You know, like I said, it comes down to you have to be disciplined in my strike zone. That’s what kept us in this position all year. So I have to get back to that.”

I have to do it. We must also recognize how well the Dodgers have pitched Judge in the World Series. In Game 2 they threw 21 pitches at the judge. Only twice did they double on the same pitch within an at-bat, and each time Judge was fooled and struck out on a chasing swing.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto throwing to Aaron Judge.

Yamamoto (above) dominated Judge and the Yankees, allowing just one hit in 6 1/3 innings. / Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

Here’s how Yamamoto introduced Judge in terms of velocity variation from pitch to pitch:

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

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

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

That is an exquisite execution changing speeds.

Judge is the type of impactful hitter who is always just a swing away. He broke his April slump, for example, with a May 5 home run off Tarik Skubal in his first at-bat when he squared his feet.

“You have to make your plate this big,” teammate Giancarlo Stanton said, putting his hands together roughly in the shape of a hamburger. “You feel like your plate is this big,” he spread his hands, “and you just have to compress it. No, it’s not mechanical. It will help us win games here.”

Time and opportunities begin to slip away. Judge has 55 postseason games under pressure on his shoulders. His team faces a true must-win third game on Monday. He is one of the best sluggers in the game and the emotional lynchpin of this team. He has I have to Do something and quickly. And isn’t that how we end up here, in the land of the indescribable?