On Friday night, the New York Yankees hosted the Tampa Bay Rays in the Bronx for the first game of their series.
The Yankees lost by a score of 4-2.
Aaron Judge had another tough night, finishing with one walk, one strikeout (and no hits).
Paul O’Neill Makes Judge Statement
Before Friday’s game, Yankees legend Paul O’Neill spoke about Judge (via YES Network).
O’Neill: “Aaron Judge is going through a little tough time right now… Some of your offense has to pick it up… Aaron Judge can’t be your guy every single day… Aaron Judge is a power hitter, so they’re gonna pitch around him at times… Every once in a while as a hitter, when you start to feel like you haven’t done things in a while, you try to force it a little bit… There’s eight other guys out there, it can’t always be Aaron Judge. Over a long course of a season, you need help.”
Judge is currently batting .245 with 46 hits, 16 home runs, 30 RBI’s, 40 runs and five stolen bases in his first 52 games.
The future Hall of Famer is in his 11th season (all with the Yankees).
Social Media Reacts To Judge’s Struggles
Here’s what people were saying about Judge:
@TalkinYanks: “Aaron Judge is 4-for-35 in the last nine games Judge’s .348 OPS in 40 plate appearances during those nine games is the worst stretch of his career over 40 plate appearances”
@SharpStats17: “Aaron Judge has now gone 11 straight games without an RBI. That’s the longest such streak of his career”
@JayNukesBack: “Aaron judge can’t get a simple base hit ? This like 4 games in a row now”
@301RandyP: “Aaron Judge has been awful at the plate for like 2 weeks smh”
Yankees After Loss To Rays
The Yankees are 30-22 in 52 games, which has them as the second-place team in the American League East.
They are 5.5 games back of the Rays for first.
Over their last ten games, the Yankees have gone just 4-6.
New York Yankees Legend Paul O’Neill Makes Honest Aaron Judge Statement