Aaron Judge Is “Not Yet” There, Says Aaron Boone Despite Captain’s Words, “I’m Still Aaron Judge. I Don’t Think That’s Changed.”

Aaron Judge, the reigning American League MVP, seems to be in quite a slump. He performance hasn’t quite gotten his groove going this season. While the New York Yankees do boast a winning record, Judge’s batting average is a lowly .178. Now this has not only raised concerns among fans but also manager Aaron Boone. 

Granted that Captain All Rise is still confident, he recent went on to say, “I’m still Aaron Judge.” While his belief is that he will come out of the slump soon, Boone says, “We’ve been saying not yet.” Why are there conflicting beliefs between the manager and the captain? 

Why is Aaron Boone not confident that Aaron Judge is there yet? 

Well, after the New York Yankees’ game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Aaron Boone addressed this issue in the post-game interview. While he did acknowledge that Judge has been doing really well, however, there are higher expectations set for him. Boone concluded “But, you know, he said we’re not yet” noting that Judge is not where he is supposed to be yet. 

The expectation from the team is given, considering what a superpower he has been and can be. The Yankees skipper addressed that too. His words were, “So, um, look a, a bullet to start off the game and start off our scoring more good at bats as we went on all the way up to his last one where he smoked the ball the other way last night. When I took him out, he smoked that double play ball, that one hopper bullet up the middle. So, um, getting more good swings off.” 

That said, it becomes important to look at where Aaron Judge stands about this. The slugger himself remains confident, brushing off the early struggles with a simple statement. “I’m still Aaron Judge. I don’t think that’s changed.”

Aaron Judges’ confidence is backed by solid stats

In one of the earlier games recently, speaking to reporters, Judge acknowledged the slow start but underscored his past successes in overcoming similar struggles. He went on to share, “I’ve had seasons where I start off worse than this in my career, and things improved.” This confidence is a signature characteristic of Judge’s personality. Not to mention how it serves as a calming presence for Yankees fans.

While the batting average might be concerning, a deeper dive into the statistics paints a different picture. Advanced metrics like barrel rate and exit velocity hint at the fact that Judge is hitting the ball hard. He’s just not finding the gaps as often. So could it be just bad luck hindering his performance? One has to wait and watch how the rest of the season unfolds to answer that.