“Don’t Know Who’s Doing It”: Former MLB Star Calls Out New York Yankees For Sending Aaron Judge as Lead-off Hitter
The New York Yankees and their star player Aaron Judge are not the same as they were during the regular season. Judge, the Pinstripes’ offensive captain, has had trouble at the bat throughout the postseason.
Alex Rodriguez, a former star for the Current York Yankees, offered his thoughts on the new American League home run champion’s decision to bat leadoff in the postseason.
In order to give him the most opportunities at the plate overall, Judge has hit leadoff for the first two postseason games and even in some games during the regular season. Even while it doesn’t make much sense to the typical baseball fan, it is at least where Aaron Boone is coming from.
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A-Rod calls out the New York Yankees for batting Aaron Judge leadoff
A-Rod advised the Yankees’ coaching staff to refrain from using their finest player as the leadoff batter. It is also having an impact on Judge’s form, he claimed. It is noteworthy that Judge has not yet homered in the postseason.
“As far as Aaron Judge; This is gimmicky baseball. You can not let your best player hitting first. Babe Ruth did not do it, Barry Bonds did not do it… I did not do it. It does not exist. The reason why is you want to put two best hitters in front and best two hitters behind…” A-Rod said.
“It’s ridiculous that this guy is hitting lead off. And it’s a mistake. I don’t know who is doing it, Boone or Cashman, but somebody has to change that immediately.”
"This is gimmicky baseball … It's ridiculous that [Judge] is hitting lead off. It's a mistake. I don't know who's doing it, Boone or Cashman, but somebody has to change that immediately."
– @AROD on the Yankees batting Aaron Judge lead off pic.twitter.com/10C4UZ2Oaz
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 15, 2022
In order to break Roger Maris’ AL home run record, Judge began the month of September hitting leadoff exclusively for the Yankees. Over his final 23 games of the regular season, he batted.364/.519/.701 with seven home runs, taking the top slot on the lineup card.
According to Rodriguez, defending Judge gives him a better chance to hit quality pitches and bat with runners in scoring position. On this issue, he is not mistaken.
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