Yankees' Aaron Judge Discusses Ongoing Postseason Struggles

The Yankees' captain is still looking to get out of a brutal slump.

Oct 26, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA;New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) strikes out against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first inning for game two of the 2024 MLB World Series at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images / Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

It's getting late early for the New York Yankees.

After a 4-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday, the Bronx Bombers trail the 2024 World Series two games to none; a brief, poor showing from Carlos Rodón and a lifeless offensive performance ended up sinking the Yankees in front of a rabid crowd at Dodger Stadium.

While the offensive numbers in general weren't pretty - the Yankees are just 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position in these first two games - one Yankee in particular has struggled more than anyone else in this series.

Aaron Judge, the team's captain and odds-on favorite for the 2024 AL MVP Award, continued his terrible playoff slump on Saturday by going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts; he is currently just 1-for-9 with six strikeouts in the first Fall Classic of his career, and is slashing an abysmal .150/.280/.325 this postseason. In 10 at-bats with runners in scoring position, the 32-year-old slugger is hitless.

After Saturday's game, Judge attributed his struggles to his over-expansion of the strike zone.

"That's really what it comes down to," Judge said to the media. "You know you gotta get a pitch in the zone and drive it, and if you don't, you'll try to make something happen."

This explanation adds up, as Judge has swung and missed at 14 pitches across his nine at-bats in the Fall Classic; of those swings and misses, eight of them have come on pitches that were completely out of the strike zone. While the 6'7" slugger has always been vulnerable to strikeouts, he'd usually make up for it with exceptional plate discipline, as he led the majors with 133 walks and an 18.9% walk rate during the regular season; this postseason, however, has seen that discipline evaporate.

Even though Judge considers his slump to be no different than his early-season funk in April, he still acknowledged that he has to come through at the plate when his teammates are getting on base.

"I've definitely got to step up and do my job," Judge said. "The guys around me are doing their job getting on base, and I'm failing them backing them up. So, we've got to turn it around in Game 3."

Aaron Judge attributes his recent struggles to his ability expanding the zone.#YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/0EFKiwWna7

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) October 27, 2024

The Yankees certainly have experience in overcoming adversity, but now they face their biggest challenge yet: to win the World Series, they need to win four of their next five games, including at least two-of-three in New York. The only way they can do this, though, is if their team captain can rediscover the form that allowed him to hit .322/.458/.701 with 58 home runs and 144 RBI. The Bronx Bombers can only go as far as Judge goes, and if he's not going, the team won't either.

New York will try to climb back into the series as it shifts over to Yankee Stadium on Monday; first pitch will be thrown at 8:08 PM ET, with Clarke Schmidt taking the hill for the Yankees against Walker Buehler of the Dodgers.