It was a distressingly familiar script for the New York Yankees in Game 2 of the World Series. While Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton came to play, the other part of the team’s big three very much did not: Aaron Judge went 0-for-4 with three more strikeouts, adding one more chapter to his epic postseason struggles and helping doom New York to a 4-2 loss against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
To this point, Judge, Aaron Boone and the rest of the Yankees have been preaching patience, both in the series overall and in regards to Judge’s poor performance in particular. But facing an 0-2 hole as the series shifts to Yankee Stadium on Monday, the time for patience is over — something has to change, because this is too precious an opportunity to simply run things back and hope for a different result. The Yankees need to put more stress on this Dodgers pitching staff, and more specifically, they need Judge to look like the soon-to-be AL MVP he was during the regular season. He’s been the heartbeat of this team all season long, and they’re not built to win without him.
It’s time for Boone to get creative, and one former Yankee has raised an idea that just might help New York’s lineup get back on track.
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The topic of shifting Judge’s place in the lineup has been broached before. But it usually suggests dropping him down a spot, bumping up Giancarlo Stanton to provide more protection for Soto. After Game 2, however, FOX MLB analyst Alex Rodriguez offered an alternative solution: Move Judge up to second, behind Gleyber Torres and in front of Soto.
"Maybe you flip Soto and Judge. You try to activate and jump start Judge a little bit."@AROD thinks a swap in the Yankees lineup could help give them a spark as they go to New York. pic.twitter.com/KuxwCPgOpL
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 27, 2024
Putting a hitter flirting with the Mendoza Line higher in the order may sound counterintuitive, but there is some logic behind it. It would allow Judge to be more of a table-setter, for starters, letting Soto get more of the chances to drive runners in. And more importantly, it would maybe get Judge some easier pitches to hit: Rather than intentionally walking Soto to deal with Judge, pitchers would be forced to attack the strike zone more for fear of having to face Soto with one or more men on base. It would stack right-handers in Torres and Judge at the top of the order, but staggering the lineup in the way Boone wants has gone out the window. The Yankees need to try something, and getting Judge better pitches to hit might help him snap out of his funk.
