Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees' Aaron Judge Raises Red Flags With Alarming Postseason Stat

Aaron Judge has not been the same player in the postseason as he's been during the regular season.

Logan VanDine

Oct 5, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) reacts after striking out during the eighth inning against the Kansas City Royals during game one of the ALDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Oct 5, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) reacts after striking out during the eighth inning against the Kansas City Royals during game one of the ALDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
In this story:

The New York Yankees' offense struggled in Game 2 of the ALDS, falling 4-2 to the Kansas City Royals.

After scoring six runs in the series opener, New York's bats were silenced throughout most of Monday night as the series will head to Kansas City tied at a game a piece.

Even though everyone in New York's lineup had its offensive woes, Aaron Judge in particular has been a non-factor thus far in the series.

After going just 1-for-3 on Monday, Judge has batted just .143 with four strikeouts in two games. While the strikeouts are alarming, history has shown that the postseason in general has not been kind to Judge throughout his career.

According to StatMuse Baseball, Judge has the second-worst strikeout rate in postseason history; in 178 at-bats, he has a total of 70 strikeouts and a 33.9% strikeout rate. Judge sits behind only veteran catcher Martin Maldonado, who has the highest postseason strikeout rate at 34.2%.

Even though Judge has slugged 13 home runs throughout his postseason career, he's still only slashed .208/.311/.449 in 46 career postseason games. To put it simply, the slugger has not been able to replicate his regular-season success in the postseason; for someone known for his historic offensive prowess and having slugged over 50 home runs in two of his last three seasons, it is puzzling to see Judge fall into these October slumps consistently.

"If I'm not hitting 1.000, I'm not feeling good. Just gotta keep getting on base for the guys behind me. If they get on, I gotta drive 'em in," Judge said after the game.

With the ALDS now heading to Kauffman Stadium on Wednesday, Judge is hoping he can eliminate the strikeouts. It will be a tall task, however; the Bronx Bombers will be going up against Seth Lugo, who went seven scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts against them on September 10.

Published |Modified
Logan VanDine
LOGAN VANDINE

Logan is a graduate of Rider University where he majored in Sports Media and minored in Sports Studies. During his time at Rider, Logan worked for Rider's radio station, 107.7 The Bronc as a sports host, producer and broadcaster, and for the school's paper: The Rider News. He began his time with The Rider News as a section writer for sports and was a copy editor for two years followed by being one of the sports editors during his senior year. Logan also placed third in the New Jersey Press Foundation Awards for sports feature writing. Aside from his work on Yankees and Mets On SI, he is also a writer for FanSided covering the New York Giants and Mets and also covers the Giants for Total Apex Sports.

Home/News