Tigers top prospect thoroughly roasts Aaron Judge's hitting coach in Twitter outburst

The New York Yankees' worst-kept secret is that their biggest player development success ... maybe ever ... ascribes a good deal of his growth to a hitting coach that isn't on the team's payroll. Aaron Judge is a devotee of Richard Schenck, aka Teacherman, an entity that is almost impossible to accurately describe.

Judge is a massive believer in the quirky mercenary, prone to occasional brash and abrasive outbursts, and will often call upon him in times of woe to help him rebuild his offensive portfolio. Schenck will fly into road cities to meet Judge in the dark of night; as of 2024, the two convened "every two weeks," a fact that became publicly known when Schenck called the Yankees' player development "terrible" on the offensive side. That actually happened.

Judge's response to that miniature controversy that could've engulfed the team in flames, but didn't? “It doesn’t involve me, to be honest. It’s somebody else making a comment. I’m not going to comment for somebody else. … I’ve got no control over what another person does. It’s out of my control. I’ve got nothing for you.”

Clearly, while the Yankees' captain is a believer, there occasionally comes a moment even for his strongest soldiers where Schenck's temper becomes difficult to defend and must be demurred. Imagine how tough it must be to deal with Schenck when you don't align with his views.

Enter Detroit Tigers top prospect Max Clark, who had zero patience for Schenck this week, commenting on an otherwise innocent video with a stream of invectives. Schenck posted a montage of the game's modern legends, from Barry Bonds to Manny Ramirez, naturally staying back on the baseball before unloading on it. Clark's response, full of all caps, disputed the implication that Schenck was taking credit for a philosophy that predated his career, using a video of plenty of players he'd never aligned with to prove his point.

Detroit Tigers top prospect Max Clark thinks Aaron Judge's private hitting coach is a bit of a blowhard

Again, Clark wasn't tagged or prompted here. He just couldn't handle any more Schenck, and had to set the record straight.

Now, this outburst isn't a Judge issue, but it may cause similar unrest in the Tigers' locker room. After all, Teacherman is current Tigers slugger Kerry Carpenter's private guru. Who knows? Maybe Judge's guy will light a spark in a different AL contender's clubhouse this time.