As Aaron Judge galloped toward history last year, he identified only one problem with his astonishing season: He did not, actually, do enough galloping. He wanted to steal 20 bases, and hitting 62 home runs meant he had 62 fewer chances to do that. He finished with 16 swipes.
So on the day he re-signed with the Yankees for nine years and $360 million this winter, he sent the team’s baserunning coordinator, Matt Talarico, a text: I’m ready to get back to work.
Heading into last season, when his 62 homers would set the American League home-run record, Judge had decided to focus on improving his baserunning. And having done that, he decided to do it again.
