New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge isn't going to let one underwhelming month get him down after he finished April with a .197 batting average.
"It's baseball," Judge said following the Yankees' series loss to the Baltimore Orioles, according to Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News. "I've had stretches like these plenty in the major leagues, plenty throughout my life. It's part of it. I can't sit here and dwell on it.
"It's May. It's a new month. Time to get going."
Judge finished the Orioles series in a 1-for-13 funk, which included four strikeouts. The 32-year-old's lone hit came during Monday's shutout loss. It was a meaningless single.
The 2022 AL MVP is having a rocky start to the campaign overall, with a number of his underlying statistics far worse compared to last season.
| Barrel% | Exit Velo | HardHit% | SLG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 27.5 | 97.6 | 64.2 | .613 |
| 2024 | 13.3 | 94.6 | 54.2 | .393 |
Judge, who is still walking at a 16.1% clip and has a .331 on-base percentage, said he needs to start "swinging at the right pitches" and plans to make adjustments in areas where he's struggling, like against off-speed pitches. Judge is whiffing against offspeed pitches an alarming 71.4% of the time.
Despite the slugger's slow start, the Yankees are seven games above .500 and sit one game back of the Orioles for top spot in the AL East. Manager Aaron Boone believes the record will look even better as his three-hole hitter figures it out.
"Somebody's gonna pay big time," Boone said. "He's gained some traction. He's stacked some good days in a row. Still on base a couple times today with the interference. He'll get it going, and look out when he does."
