Yankees' Aaron Judge breaks silence on team's struggles as AL East fades

Aaliyan Mohammed

Yankees' Aaron Judge breaks silence on team's struggles as AL East fades image

The New York Yankees are now tied with the Toronto Blue Jays atop the American League East. The Tampa Bay Rays are now just a half-game back as well.

The Yankees were once dominating the AL East. However, they have lost 13 of their last 19 after losing to the Blue Jays on Wednesday night. Aaron Judge spoke on his level of concern and his overall mindset.

"No," Judge said when asked if he was concerned. "It's a long season. We got to play better. That's what it comes down to. You play better, we'll put ourselves in a better position. We're not concerned about what's going on around us. We got to control what we do in this room and what we do out there on the field. We're not getting the job done right now."

The most concerning part of the Yankees' struggles has been the self-inflicted wounds. They're making errors in the field and they are struggling with runners in scoring position. Both were also issues last postseason.

Judge himself is having another MVP-caliber season. He is slashing .363/.470/.735. He is leading all of baseball in batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS. He has hit 31 home runs as well.

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Despite his great overall numbers, he has seen a slight decline over the course of the Yankees' slump. He is slashing .254/.405/.582. His numbers are still respectable over that span and he has a .987 OPS. However, the Yankees offense goes as Judge goes, and the team will need to add another impact bat if they do not want to hang the hopes of their season on just Judge.

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Aaliyan Mohammed

Aaliyan Mohammed is a sports journalist who graduated from Mississippi State University. He covered MLB prospects for MLB.com. He has also spent time covering the Green Bay Packers as well as college sports in the SEC. His work features interviews with Gilbert Brown, Andre Rison, Mike Leach and multiple MLB executives.