The last couple of weeks can't have been too fun for Aaron Judge. Sure, the New York Yankees dispatched the Kansas City Royals in the ALDS and jumped out to an early ALCS lead against the Cleveland Guardians. But despite that success, all the tabloids have wanted to talk about is why Judge isn't hitting — and why his postseason numbers far so far short of his otherworldly production during the regular season. Judge is on pace to be one of the greatest right-handed hitters of all-time, and he's done nothing but carry himself the right way as the captain of the Yankees. But he's yet to win a ring, and he's yet to author a truly iconic postseason moment; and in the Bronx, that's the only way that anyone will ultimately be judged.
To be fair, there's certainly some truth to the "Judge struggles in the playoffs" narrative. It's undeniable that he hasn't been nearly the same player: He's a lifetime .206 hitter in the postseason, and that comes with the highest strikeout rate of any player ever. Pitchers treat Judge differently in October, and he's far too often reacted by pressing and getting too aggressive — issues that have only gotten worse as the empty at-bats mounted.
But perhaps that narrative may be about to change. Judge finally snapped his homerless streak in Game 2, taking Cleveland reliever Hunter Gaddis deep to center field to seal New York's 6-3 win — and in the process, offer a little reminder that his performance in the postseason hasn't been as bad as Yankees fans would have you believe.
Aaron Judge's place in the Yankees record books should put his postseason performance into perspective
Judge's Game 2 dinger was the 14th of his postseason career. If that sounds like a lot, that's because it is: In fact, it's enough to place him fifth on the Yankees' all-time playoff home run list, behind only Bernie Williams (22), Derek Jeter (20), Mickey Mantle (18) and Babe Ruth (15).
Aaron Judge, who never comes through in the postseason, somehow has the 5th-most home runs all time for the most illustrious postseason franchise in the sport
— Matt (@HoodieGleyber) October 16, 2024
Which goes to show that Judge has come through in October more often than you think. He's slugging .455 with a .769 OPS lifetime — well short of his regular-season numbers, but by no means terrible. And even those are being dragged down by what's really just a couple of bad series: Judge disappeared late in New York's 2020 Wild Card loss to the Tampa Bay Rays (2-for-16 in Games 2-5 after homering in Game 1), then no-showed in the 2022 ALCS against the Houston Astros (1-for-16 in a four-game sweep).
Outside of those lowlights, though, there have been plenty of big hits. In his first postseason game, a do-or-die Wild Card game against the Minnesota Twins back in 2017, Judge went 2-for-4 with a homer and three runs scored. He also delivered a huge three-run homer in Game 3 of that year's ALCS, before helping key the late comeback in Game 4 with another home run in the seventh followed by a double off the wall in the eighth. He was the team's best hitter in the 2018 ALDS loss to the Boston Red Sox, and he was huge in the ALDS again in both 2019 and 2022.
Again, none of which is to excuse his penchant for disappearing acts. He unquestionably changes his approach in the playoffs, almost always for the worse, and becomes a much easier out. But Judge still lives on base, and he can still change the tenor of a game with a single swing. His at-bats against Cleveland in the ALCS have looked much better than they did against Kansas City, and we know from experience that Judge has a big postseason run in him. With the way the AL bracket has shaken out, this may be his best chance to prove it.
