Yankees: It’s not a slump. It’s a period of adjustment for Judge

Yankees fans are familiar with the tale of Roy Hobbs. They’ve seen players hit the stage with Ruthian like numbers, only to watch them fade into oblivion just as quickly. Aaron Judge is not that, but neither is he the player we’ve seen thus far.

Yankees fans will recall when the team called up a 25-year-old first baseman named Kevin Maas in June of 1990 in a season when the Yankees needed a breath of excitement.

Instantly exploding with a surge of power, Maas set a major league record for fewest at-bats to reach ten home runs (72) and finished his season with 21 home runs in just 79 games. Five years later he was out of baseball.

Shane Spencer is another familiar name to Yankees fans. His cameo appearance on the big stage is cataloged here by Pinstriped Alley:

"The 14 regular season September games that Spencer spent in the big leagues with the Yankees in ’98 saw the Yankees only lose three times. Spencer lit the baseball world on fire with a .421/.476/1.105 batting line that included three grand slams, eight home runs, and five go-ahead hits."

Spencer’s career would never develop and like Maas he would end his career when briefly tried to play in Japan with the Hanshin Tigers, but was cut before the 2006 season.

It’s all about making adjustments

There are some foolish souls who are already predicting the same fate for Aaron Judge. But for a host of reasons, it’ll never happen.

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At the same time though, let’s take a step back and ask a few questions. First, how many believe that Judge is the .330 hitter he was until just a few days ago (now .311). And how many really thought something magical had happened from last September to this April to where his issues with strikeouts had evaporated (he now has 116 in 391 at-bats).

And most significantly, how many believed that the major league pitchers facing him wouldn’t come up with a plan to beat him?

By now, it’s well known that Judge is one for twenty-something since returning from the All-Star Game and the Home Run Derby. He’s fouling off pitches to the right side that two weeks ago he was turning on and smashing to God knows where.

He is not the same Aaron Judge we saw before the break. But neither is he Kevin Maas.

It all takes a toll

Aaron Judge has been imagined and glorified as some Superman wearing pinstripes. I can’t remember the last time he was given a day off by Joe Girardi. The man is exhausted.

And it’s not the Home Run Derby, as some have said, that did it to him. That’s just batting practice with maybe a couple of swings here and there that require a little extra effort like the last one he took to win the tournament with the clock ticking down.

But think back – Aaron Judge was a Wanted Man in Miami. He was even besieged by teammates who wanted an autograph “for their son.” And if he gave one interview, he must have given a hundred.

And it makes you give some extra credit to Derek Jeter bearing the pressure of being the face of the New York Yankees, and occasionally, as Judge did last weekend, being the face of major league baseball.

It was all fun as Judge said quite often, but it was also grueling, and it had nothing to do with the Yankees 2017 season.

Starting over and settling in

Aaron Judge will not end his career prematurely, trying to hang on with a team in Japan. But he may not be the next Babe Ruth, or possibly, maybe not even the next Mickey Mantle.

This is a time for Aaron to find himself – again. Pitchers are adjusting to him, and now it’s his turn to adjust back to them until the cycle unfolds again and again over the course of his or any major league player’s career.

Some make the adjustments, and some don’t. The ones like Shane Spencer get invited back to Yankee Stadium every year for the annual Old Timer’s Game, and they receive remembrances of the cheers they once heard.

Judge made some major adjustments over the winter, and he took the league by storm. He is still a lock to be the American League Rookie of the Year. He will still hit between 45-50 home runs. And he will always put the fear of God in any pitcher facing him.

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And sometimes you have to take one step back after taking two steps forward to take the next leap forward.

That’s all that’s going on with Aaron Judge at the moment. He’ll work it out just as he’s done before. But for God sakes, Joe, give the guy a day or two off, will ya? Because you’re not helping matters any here.