The Boston Red Sox are going to face the New York Yankees in the American League Wild Card Series.
It’s still unclear whether or not they’ll face Aaron Judge…
Judge, who has been dealing with several different injuries this season, suffered a calf strain last week and was placed on the injured list (retroactive to Thursday) on Saturday. Judge is obviously going to be frustrated with situation, but perhaps even more so after he spent the majority of the regular season sidelined with a fractured rib and will likely finish the campaign slashing .241/.360/.511 with 18 home runs and 41 RBIs in 66 games — not exactly what we all expected.
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“I’d like to be back by the postseason,” Judge told MLB Media’s Bryan Hoch. “That’s definitely the plan. [It’s the] 10-day IL, so the 10th day is probably the last game of the season. We’ll see. I’ve got really no answers for you on any timeline or anything like that.”
I, too, would like him to be back.
It’s pretty difficult arguing that you want to face the reigning AL MVP and one of the two best hitters of the 2020s, but let’s all be serious about the reality of the situation. If he makes his way back into the lineup for the postseason, you’ll be pitching to someone who has been sidelined for the majority of the last four months. It’s not like he’s been the same guy since returning earlier this month, either, as he went just 4-for-23 (.174) with one home run across six games since being activated on Sept. 8.
Judge at 50% is still better than most at 100%, but it is important to remember that he has found it somewhat difficult to stay productive in past postseasons.
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Aaron Judge – Postseason
2025: 13-for-26 (.500 BA)
2024: 9-for-49 (.184 BA)
2022: 5-for-36 (.139 BA)
2021: 1-for-4 (.250 BA)
2020: 4-for-30 (.133 BA)
2019: 9-for-34 (.265 BA)
2018: 8-for-19 (.421 BA)
2017: 9-for-38 (.188 BA)
2-for-8 in terms of productive stretches. 58-for-246 in terms of at-bats. 0-for-forever in terms of making enough of an impact to actually be considered a winning baseball player.
The Yankees absolutely would prefer to have him in the lineup, but it’s not an obvious choice right now. If they have to force him in they’ll either lose Luis Garcia Jr. or Ben Rice as the designated hitter or put someone with a bum calf in the outfield at Yankee Stadium. If they choose to let him fully heal and miss that first series, they can play both Rice (.889 OPS) and Garcia (.843 OPS) while having the space to play guys like Spencer Jones (1.177 OPS vs. LHP), and Paul Goldschmidt (.997 OPS vs. LHP).
I know which scenario I would rather see.
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