Aaron Judge didn’t do much offensively in Friday’s 2-1 win over the Angels, but his arm more than made up for it.
The right fielder threw out two baserunners, including Kole Calhoun at the plate to end the top of the third after Justin Upton’s two-out single.
In the seventh, Judge got to Martin Maldonado’s hit in the right-field corner and fired to Didi Gregorius at second to nail Maldonado for the second out of the inning.
“I’ve probably made that play a thousand times pregame,” Judge said of the play at second. “It’s just like practice. Just keep a routine, keep it simple and make an accurate throw.”
The throw home was more impressive, registering 100 mph, according to Statcast. It was the first time Judge was recorded making a throw that hard.
“It’s about time,” Judge said with a laugh. “I’ve been trying to hit 100. I hit 99 last year.”
And he was happy with the result: “As an outfielder, that’s what you live for.”
Brett Gardner called Judge a “game-changer on both sides of the ball.”
“That’s about as good as it gets defensively,” Aaron Boone said. “Those are two special throws that Aaron made. Obviously, in a one-run, low-scoring game, it’s huge.”


