The world is noticing New York Yankees rookie Aaron Judge, which, considering he is 6-foot-7 and 282 pounds, makes sense. The World Series champion Chicago Cubs, who host Judge & Co. at Wrigley Field for a weekend series starting Friday afternoon, are no exception.
“I mean [Giancarlo] Stanton is big, but this guy is big,” Cubs outfielder Jon Jay said. “He’s had a good start to his career. When you see power like that, it’s something special. I’ll probably play deep on him.”
Waveland Avenue might be a good spot.
Judge, named Rookie of the Month for April, is hitting .330 with an MLB-best 13 home runs -- and he’s eager to see the ivy-covered walls of Wrigley in person.
“I’m looking forward to that,” Judge said. “It is one of the stadiums I wanted to check off my list here. I get a chance to play at Wrigley Field after the Cubs won the World Series. It will be an electric atmosphere, and I’m looking forward to it.”
"We used to call him Blake Griffin in the Cape [Cod League] when we played against him. In batting practice, it was a joke. He was putting them out everywhere."
Kyle Schwarber
Judge, though, has yet to conquer the road. While he has a 1.061 OPS and 10 homers in 14 games in the Bronx, he's posted just a .513 OPS with three homers in 11 games away from home. Still, he has mashed at such a rate, even players in opposing clubhouses tune in to watch him.
“He’s killing it so far,” Cubs reliever Mike Montgomery said. “I’ve seen the highlights.”
Cubs leadoff hitter Kyle Schwarber played against Judge in the Cape Cod League.
“We used to call him Blake Griffin in the Cape when we played against him,” Schwarber said. “In batting practice, it was a joke. He was putting them out everywhere.”
Still, few if any predicted this type of start, including the Yankees, who handed Judge the starting right field job over Aaron Hicks only in the final days of spring training. In his first taste of the big leagues last year, Judge struck out in half of his 84 at-bats. Now, he's a star attraction, during games and before them.
“I think there is a curiosity,” Yankees GM Brian Cashman said. “There’s got to be. He had a tremendous month. Not many position players his size you can point to. There is one sitting in Miami in Giancarlo Stanton. You don’t see that type of physicality with a bat in his hand, with the production that is now coming with it. I think there is a curiosity.
“It is all because of his size. Jose Altuve is having a Hall of Fame kind of career, but I don’t think people are lining up to watch him take batting practice. Aaron Judge has had a nice month, and there is a buzz about what he does to win games, but there is a bigger buzz about his batting practices.”
When Judge struggled last year, he remained confident, like he knew something no one else did. Still, if he'd been told before the season he'd have these types of numbers in early May, he wouldn't have believed it.
“Surprised,” Judge said. “I would have laughed at them. I would have said, ‘You must be joking.’”
Additional reporting by Jesse Rogers
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