When he is healthy, there are few players in baseball more dominant and game-changing offensively than New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge. He is one of the greatest right-handed hitters of this era, a yearly MVP contender and as feared a hitter as there is in baseball.
The Yankees are fortunate to have him as their cornerstone player.
But there remains a consistent problem the Yankees have had in the recent years of the Judge era, and it is once again on display this season, and especially during Judge’s absence that began at the start of June.
They are entirely too reliant on him and do not have the depth in their lineup to make up for his absence.
New York Yankees again showing how much Aaron Judge means to them
At this point, it is awfully difficult to ignore the numbers
When Judge is in the Yankees lineup this season, they are 36-23 and average 5.1 runs per game.
When he is not in the lineup, their record falls to 13-17 while they lose a full run off of their offense, going down to just four runs per game.
Things have especially become bleak for them during this most recent run of games, including Sunday’s 6-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins. That loss resulted in them losing two of three games to the Twins, while they have now won just four of their past 17 games overall.
Judge has been sidelined for more than a month now due to a rib injury, and there remains no immediate timeline for his return.
The hope appears to be at some point in mid-August, which is still another month-and-a-half of baseball.
For now, the Yankees are still in an okay position in the American League playoff race, occupying the top wild-card spot with a little bit of wiggle room. They trail the Tampa Bay Rays by four games for the top spot in the American League East.
But if they are going to maintain that position, or begin gaining ground, they are going to have to turn things around from what they have done over the past few weeks. The upcoming schedule is not exactly favorable for that on paper.
They begin a massively important series with the Tampa Bay Rays this week, and then follow that over the next few weeks with series against the Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs.
Every single one of those teams has a winning record at the moment, while the Rays, Dodgers, White Sox and Cubs are all occupying playoff spots.
It’s not going to be easy without Judge.
The Yankees’ lineup isn’t as devoid of talent after Judge as it was a few years ago, as there are still some really good players here. Ben Rice is having a monster year at the plate, while Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Paul Goldschmidt are having solid years. But it is not enough, and it shows again that Judge is the player who really drives everything with the team. As he goes, they go. They need him back.