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<\/p>\nThe whole thing seems counterintuitive. Aaron Judge is performing at such a historic level, pitchers should be giving him fewer pitches to hit, causing him to swing less, not more.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s not how Judge\u2019s season is playing out.<\/p>\n
Judge, 33, is swinging at the highest rates of his career. On first pitches. On pitches outside the zone. On all pitches in general.<\/p>\n
When informed of the various trends earlier this month, Judge seemed surprised.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean, \u2018swinging more?\u2019\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
Your swing rate is higher.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, it is?\u201d Judge replied, in a way that indicated he sincerely didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone had the same reaction when told Judge is swinging more.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is?\u201d Boone asked.<\/p>\n
Yep. Judge is the anti-Juan Soto, always on the attack. Entering Sunday, when he hit his 29th and 30th homers of the season, his first-pitch swing rate (35.8 percent), in-zone swing rate (67.9 percent), chase rate (24.5 percent) and overall swing rate (46.4 percent) were all career-highs for a full season.<\/p>\n
Judge\u2019s explanation?<\/p>\n
\u201cI usually don\u2019t get too many pitches to hit,\u201d he said. \u201cSo if it\u2019s going to be the first one, try to be ready. If it\u2019s going to be the last one on a 3-2 count, try to be ready.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s tough to say. I feel I\u2019m in a good position to hit. If you\u2019re in a good position to hit, you\u2019re going to swing the bat. At times in years past, if I didn\u2019t get to a good position to hit, you\u2019re not going to feel good swinging the bat, so you take a lot of pitches.\u201d<\/p>\n
Judge didn\u2019t enter the season thinking, \u201cOK, I need to try something different.\u201d Why would such a thought even enter his mind? He was coming off his second MVP award in three years. His park- and league-adjusted OPS in 2024 was the 14th highest in history.<\/p>\n
Not even the boldest coach or analyst would dare tug on Superman\u2019s cape and suggest to Judge a more aggressive approach was necessary. James Rowson, in his second year as Yankees hitting coach, said Judge just sort of came up with it on his own.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore of it, really, is his mindset,\u201d Rowson said. \u201cHe has to stay aggressive in his mindset. If he doesn\u2019t, you start to fall into that mindset of, \u2018They may not pitch to me.\u2019 And then you end up missing pitches that you may hit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t tell you we had this long discussion and said, \u2018You\u2019re going to swing more, you\u2019re going to be more aggressive.\u2019 But I think to his credit, he basically said, \u2018I have to be aggressive. I can\u2019t be passive.\u2019 He\u2019s trusting his eyes. He\u2019s trusting his ability to lay off pitches out of the zone. But he wants to attack the zone.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Aaron Judge is more aggressive at the plate this season, attacking the first pitch he sees more often than he ever has. (Brian Fluharty \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Even after cooling down in June, Judge still leads the majors with a .356 batting average and trails the Seattle Mariners\u2019 Cal Raleigh by only two home runs and two RBIs.<\/p>\n
Yet, even as Judge pursues the American League Triple Crown and leads the major-league triple-slash categories by considerable margins, pitchers still are not treating him like Barry Bonds.<\/p>\n
In Bonds\u2019 most spectacular four-year span, 2001 to \u201804, he averaged 71 intentional walks, including his major-league record 120 in \u201904. Judge is on pace for 35 intentional walks. His overall walk rate entering Sunday (15.1 percent) was his lowest since 2021, and ranked seventh in the majors.<\/p>\n
Obviously, Bonds and Judge are different. Bonds batted from the left side. Judge hits from the right. And Bonds\u2019 alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs altered the perception of his offensive accomplishments.<\/p>\n
But second-year Yankees bench coach Brad Ausmus, a former major-league catcher who played against Bonds, said Judge\u2019s knowledge of the strike zone is reminiscent of his former opponent, who led his league in walks 12 times.<\/p>\n
\u201cBarry knew exactly when it was on the plate, when it was too high, when it was too in. Judge is very, very similar to that,\u201d Ausmus said. \u201cI didn\u2019t realize how much he controlled the strike zone. He really, really controls it. And as good as he was last year, he\u2019s better at it this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
The wonder of Bonds was that he might get only one pitch per game to hit, and still hit it out. Judge grew up in Linden, Calif., about 95 miles east of San Francisco. He was 9 when Bonds hit a single-season AL\/NL record 73 home runs in 2001; he was 15 when Bonds finished his career with a record 762.<\/p>\n
He sees little comparison between what he is doing now and Bonds was doing then.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re still giving me a couple of pitches to hit per night. He would get one pitch a series and hit it to the moon,\u201d Judge said. \u201cI\u2019m not on that level yet. Hopefully one day. But he\u2019s the greatest of all time. I can\u2019t compete with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maybe not. Bonds from 2001 to \u201904 produced park- and league-adjusted OPS figures 159 percent, 168 percent, 131 percent and 163 percent above league average. Judge was 110 percent and 123 percent above league average in 2022 and \u201924, his two MVP seasons. Entering Sunday, he was 122 percent above league average this season.<\/p>\n
If he\u2019s not Bonds, he\u2019s perhaps the current game\u2019s closest facsimile, along with the Los Angeles Dodgers\u2019 Shohei Ohtani.<\/p>\n
So why do teams keep pitching to him?<\/p>\n
Like so much in baseball these days, the answer boils down to a math equation.<\/p>\n