Aaron Judge went cold in October, but Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton picked up the slack for the New York Yankees to win their first ALCS title and enter the World Series for the first time since 2009. However, this time around, they don't have Soto (losing him to the New York Mets in free agency) and Stanton has been troubled by injuries.
This could mean only one thing. The Yankees can't afford Judge having another lackluster postseason. While the two-time MVP's regular-season credentials are second to none, when it comes to making it count in October, he has come up short.
The Athletic's Brendan Kuty believes if the Yankees want to run it back to the World Series, Judge has to post regular-season numbers in October.
“This time, there will be no Juan Soto, and Giancarlo Stanton can’t do it all by himself. The Yankees need Aaron Judge to put up Aaron Judge numbers in the postseason,” Kuty wrote. “They need him to author major moments and to be the catalyst that he largely hasn’t been throughout his postseason career.”
Before Tuesday's game against the Detroit Tigers, Judge has batted .321 (best in the league) along with 43 home runs (5th best) and 97 RBIs (9th) with a league-leading OPS of 1.099. He is one of the favorites to win the 2025 AL MVP. He is facing strong competition from Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh for the honor.
Judge has been modest in postseason
Over 58 career postseason games, Judge has posted a batting average of .205, with 45 hits, 16 home runs, 34 RBIs and 37 runs scored. His career postseason slash line sits at approximately .205/.318/.450, much lower than his dominant regular-season metrics. Last season, Judge faced intense scrutiny for coming up short in the postseason, as he hit just .150 with 19 strikeouts in 40 at-bats.
Since 2019, he’s batting just .176 in the playoffs, with six home runs, 11 RBIs and 42 strikeouts. Judge has been noted to go chasing for the pitches he won't go after if it were in the regular season. Some have come to believe, Judge has many weaknesses, and they only open up in the postseason because of the opposing team's intense outing and analytical approach.
It remains to be seen if Judge finally explodes come postseason and lead the historic franchise to their 28th World Series title.