Yankees: Aaron Judge has caught fire at the perfect time

After going through an extended slump out of the All-Star break Aaron Judge caught fire during the Yankees nine-game west coast road trip and it couldn’t have happened at a better time. With September right around the corner, Judge is back to his old self which is bad news for the rest of the league.

11 days ago, before the Yankees headed west Judge was in the midst of one of the worst slumps of his young career. He was hitting .222 with 22 K’s over a 17-game stretch to start August with only one home run and five RBI. Of course, everyone from the fans to the New York media started to wonder what was wrong with the All-Star slugger and whether or not his oblique injury from earlier in the season was still bothering him.

Judge wasn’t driving the ball in the air much at all, especially to left field where he hadn’t pulled a home run all season. It seemed like after every game he was getting questions about his struggles and his launch angle but through it all, he maintained the same calm and confident attitude he’s displayed since entering the big leagues back in 2016.

When a Yankee of Judge’s caliber goes through a slump like the one he did it’s always going to get a ton of attention, but people need to realize that it’s part of the game. Some last longer than others but the great ones always find a way to break out of it and that’s exactly what Judge is doing right now.

Last Tuesday in Oakland, Judge finally pulled a home run to left field and he did it in style by launching a 467 ft blast with an exit velocity of 116 mph. Two nights later in Los Angeles, he pulled another home run and ever since then they’ve started to come in bunches. Judge homered in all three games against the Dodgers including one against both Hyun Jin Ryu and Clayton Kershaw, two of the best starting pitchers the game has to offer.

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In Seattle, he blasted two more home runs including the 100th of his career and another one to left field on Wednesday to give him a total of six on the west coast trip. Judge batted .359 over the course of the nine games with nine RBI and a .897 SLG %. In only 10 days he has completely silenced all of his critics and reminded the rest of baseball that he’s still one of the most dangerous hitters in the game today.

It was only a matter of time before Judge caught fire again and now that he has expect him and the Yankee offense to have another huge month in September. They already broke the major league record for home runs in a month with 70 so far this August and with Judge leading the way that record could be short-lived.

Breaking their own record would be nice but for Judge and the rest of the Yankees, all there worried about right now is preparing for the postseason. Winning in October is all that matters and as long as he continues to swing the bat like he is right now you have to like the Yankees chances.