Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees is on such a tear these days that it’s hard to imagine any pitcher having the recipe for getting him out consistently.
It’s to the point where legends are being asked for tips, as one reporter recently asked former Yankees ace CC Sabathia how he would pitch to Judge.
CC was in the house for Friday’s 3-0 win over the Colorado Rockies as the Yankees were honoring the 2009 World Series team and when asked by YES Network’s Meredith Marakovits how he’d pitch to Judge, he said “I mean, right now, you’ve gotta walk him.”
How would CC Sabathia pitch to Aaron Judge? @M_Marakovits asked him that after the ace talked about catching up with old friends & his 2009 World Championship club. #YANKSonYES #OTD pic.twitter.com/PBrlJGcM3O
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) August 24, 2024
It’s the right answer given how putrid the bats have been behind him for the majority of the season, especially before Giancarlo Stanton returned from injury.
With Judge on pace to challenge his own American League record of 62 home runs in a season, it’s puzzling how he has only been intentionally walked 16 times this season, which is only slightly more than Yordan Alvarez and Rafael Devers, who are tied for second in the league with 13 intentional passes each.
Judge is well in the mix to win the triple crown and has the home run and RBI leads mostly wrapped up, but if pitchers start taking Sabathia’s advice and giving Judge the Barry Bonds treatment more often, it could hurt his chances of winning the batting title or breaking his record of 62 homers.
Sabathia and Judge would have been a fun matchup to see, as prime CC certainly would have challenged him.
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