Everybody is wasting their time pointing out Aaron Judge's slow start with Yankees

New York Yankees fans have some legitimate things to worry about right now, but Aaron Judge is not one of them. If you're a Yankees fan rightfully concerned about the already-taxed (and talent-deficient) bullpen, or the fact that Ryan McMahon might end up with fewer MLB base hits than millions of dollars earned this season (16), or the fact that Jazz Chisholm Jr. isn't biologically built for playoff baseball, worry away to your heart's discontent. But don't go nonsensically adding Judge to that list of problems.

Yes, Judge isn't looking like Judge yet, and that hasn't helped a Yankees offense that is struggling mightily as a whole through 15 games. But Judge did this in 2024 before going on to put up the best offensive numbers of his entire career. Yes, we saw a worse version of this from Judgey two years ago, just before he turned into the pinnacle of peak Aaron Judge. Everyone needs to calm down.

Aaron Judge had a terrible start to 2024, so why are Yankees fans upset about his 2026 so far?

Are you a Yankees fan losing sleep over Judge's .218/ .328/ .455 line with four homers through 15 games this season? You must have completely forgotten the 2024 season, in which Judge slashed .178/ .315/ .356 with four homers in his first 27 games. You must have also forgotten how Judge ended 2024: .322/ .458/ .701 with 58 home runs — the best offensive season of his career, earning him an American League MVP.

It's understandable if 2024 is a bit of a traumatic year for Yankees fans, given their loss in the World Series, the subsequent departure of Juan Soto, and a barrage of "What ifs" to follow. No Yankees fan should be shamed for still gripping nostalgically to the almost-glory of '24, nor should they be laughed at for their subconscious protectively blocking out large chunks of the season due to how it ended.

But there was little about Judge's 2024 regular season that shouldn't be celebrated and remembered as epic, even the start of it. In suffering from a brutal April and still having a historically absurd overall season, Judge came across as even more singular in his greatness. Like prime Roger Federer losing the first set of a Wimbledon final, 6-0, and then handling business without sweating in the next three frames.

History proves that Aaron Judge is about to catch fire for Yankees

Health provided, we can all count on Judge to start raking sooner or later, and we can all assume that he'll be neck-and-neck with this year's version of Cal Raleigh in the AL MVP race down the stretch; that is, if anyone has their one-off miracle season and approaches Judge at all.

Judge is held to a higher standard than everyone else in today's game, seemingly including Shohei Ohtani, for whatever reason. When it comes to a lot of this unfair moving of the goal posts, there's nothing to be done. Human nature is to be blamed, and it's just regrettable noise for Judge to ignore. But at the very least, Yankees fans can learn to keep a cool head during a Judgian slump, knowing full well what's about to happen next.