The New York Yankees are down 3-0 in the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers. It's already over in the minds of many. Aaron Judge, who had one of the best offensive regular seasons on record, has shrunk under the October lights.
The slugger is 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts in the Fall Classic. Through three rounds of playoffs, he's 6-for-43 (.140) and has fanned 20 times. This wilting has put him in the crosshairs of one of the harshest media markets in the world, and the criticism has crossed into areas that usually are oblivious to baseball.
Like First Take, where Stephen A. Smith took aim on Tuesday morning.
.@stephenasmith says New Yorkers won't forget about Aaron Judge's postseason performance 😮
— First Take (@FirstTake) October 29, 2024
“This is one of the most atrocious performances we’ve seen from a baseball player … in postseason history.” pic.twitter.com/JxXRachsA9
"This is one of the most atrocious performances we've seen from a baseball player, from a hitter in postseason in baseball history," Smith said.
Make no mistake about it. Judge hasn't been great. In fact, he's been disastrously bad considering how much the Yankees depend on him. But he has walked eight times in the postseason and hit two home runs in the American League Championship to help his team get to this point. One can certainly make the argument that it can't be the worst of all time if the Yankees are playing in the World Series.
But even more than that, if this is truly a statement to be considered, Judge's production isn't even historically bad for this postseason. He ranks 45th among all batters in this year's playoffs in terms of OPS (.580). That's one spot behind his teammate Alex Verdugo (.600) and six spots ahead of Dodgers catcher Will Smith (.542). Jazz Chisholm is more than 100 points behind Judge at .475 and Austin Wells is carrying a .315 mark. If you compare Judge to last year's postseason, he'd also rank 54th, right between Jonah Heim and Leody Taveras of the World Series-champion Texas Rangers.
Judge's flailing at bats are a major story and they will likely be a huge reason the Yankees don't achieve the ultimate prize. To say that he's been worse than anyone else in October, though, is not even close to true. He absolutely has to be held to a higher standard than pretty much everyone else, but it's not as though he's done nothing.
More of the Latest Around MLB
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Stephen A. Smith On Aaron Judge: One of Most Atrocious Playoff Performances Ever.
