Alex Rodriguez believes batting Aaron Judge in the leadoff spot is “ridiculous,” and he says the Yankees need to make a change “immediately.”
The former Yankees slugger, now a studio analyst for Fox, said Friday night that Judge needs to be better protected in the lineup. Judge, who set the American League record with 62 home runs in the regular season, is 0-for-8 with seven strikeouts in the Yanks’ split of the first two games of the AL Division Series against the Guardians.
“As far as Aaron Judge, this is gimmicky baseball,” A-Rod said during the Fox postgame show alongside Kevin Burkhardt and Hall of Famers Frank Thomas and David Ortiz. “You cannot let your best player, your best hitter, hitting first. Babe Ruth didn’t do it. Barry Bonds didn’t do it. Frank didn’t do it. This guy [Ortiz] didn’t do it. I didn’t do it. It doesn’t exist. The reason why, is you want to protect [him]. Like, you play chess, it’s like the queen on the chess board.
Aaron Judge was 0-for-5 with four strikeouts against the Guardians on Friday. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post“You want to put the best two hitters in front, and the best two hitters behind, and protect. The Yankees are putting the worst two hitters – the eighth and ninth hitter – and it puts an enormous amount of pressure. You want him to come up in that first at-bat and be very relaxed, see 12 or 14 pitches like I used to with [Derek] Jeter and [Johnny] Damon and [Mark] Teixeira, and maybe pop a three-run homer. It’s ridiculous that this guy is hitting leadoff, and it’s a mistake. I don’t know who’s doing it, [Aaron] Boone or [Brian] Cashman, but somebody has to change that immediately.”
With several regulars sidelined by injuries, Boone began using Judge in the leadoff spot in September. The move also maximized No. 99’s plate appearances as he chased Roger Maris’ longstanding league and franchise record of 61 home runs.
Judge belted 13 of his 62 homers in 34 starts as the Yankees leadoff batter, with 47 coming in 112 games from the No. 2 slot and two in seven games while hitting third in the order. The four-time All-Star hasn’t batted with a runner on base in any of his nine plate appearances (one walk) in the first two games of the ALDS entering Game 3 on Saturday night in Cleveland.
“The Yankees have all the pressure on them. The Guardians have zero pressure,” Rodriguez said about the series. “They have the lowest payroll. They have the youngest team. They have a great manager in Tito Francona. And now they’re going to Cleveland saying, ‘Guess what? 1-1, anything can happen.’”
