TAMPA, Fla. — Aaron Judge has won back-to-back American League MVP awards. He is a seven-time All-Star and the captain of the New York Yankees. By most measures, he is the most dangerous hitter in baseball.
And yet, the Yankees slugger is heading into the 2026 World Baseball Classic with a student’s mindset. Judge will represent Team USA for the first time when the tournament opens March 5, and he is treating the experience as a chance to grow.
The Yankees captain said last week that sharing a clubhouse with the best players in America is what excites him most about the tournament. Judge has been in plenty of All-Star Game settings before, but he believes the WBC will carry a different energy.
“A lot of people have a lot of pride for their country,” said Judge, who has been trash-talking with some Yankees teammates playing for other nations. “It’s great for baseball, great for the fans.”
Judge said the thing he wants most from the experience is insight into how elite players prepare. He wants to watch their routines. He wants to understand their approach.
Judge puts Harper at the top of his list
AP Photo/Matt Slocum
When pressed for a specific name, Judge pointed to Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper. The two-time NL MVP and eight-time All-Star will bat in front of Judge in the Team USA lineup, giving the Yankees captain a front-row seat to Harper’s at-bats.
“Harper is a guy who’s been in the league for so long and had success with multiple teams, multiple situations,” Judge told Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News. “He’s definitely at the top of my list. I think he’s gonna be hitting in front of me, so it’ll be good to kind of pick his brain about what he looks for and what he tries to do.”
The comment was notable for several reasons. Harper is coming off a 2025 season that generated significant criticism. He hit .261 with 27 home runs, 75 RBI and an .844 OPS across 132 games. Those were his lowest OPS and OPS+ numbers since 2016 and 2019, respectively. A wrist injury cost him time, and he went just 3-for-15 without an RBI in the Phillies’ NLDS loss to the Dodgers.
Harper has earned that respect over a prolific 14-year career. He owns two NL MVP awards, eight All-Star selections, four Silver Slugger trophies and a lifetime .280 batting average. He remains signed through 2031 on a 13-year, $330 million contract with the Phillies.
For Harper, hearing that kind of endorsement from the game’s most feared slugger is a timely reminder that the rest of baseball still views him as elite, regardless of what his front office said publicly.
Harper in Phillies spotlight for wrong reasons
The timing of Judge’s words carries significant weight. While Phillies president of baseball operations Dave questioned whether Harper still belongs among the game’s top 10 players, the Yankees captain is treating him as one of the few hitters in baseball he can actually learn from.
The tension between Harper and the Phillies front office started in October. After Philadelphia was eliminated by the Dodgers in the NLDS, Dombrowski offered a blunt public assessment of Harper’s 2025 campaign.
Phillies president Dave Dombrowski admits he's unsure if Bryce Harper, who turns 33 today, can return to being an elite player:
"I guess we only find out if he becomes elite [again] or he continues to be good…Can he rise to the next level again? I don't really know that… pic.twitter.com/3Sq50fXjQJ
“He didn’t have an elite season like he’s had in the past,” Dombrowski said. “I guess we only find out if he becomes elite or he continues to be good.”
Harper hit .261 with 27 home runs, 75 RBI and an .844 OPS across 132 games last season. A wrist injury cost him time. He also went 3-for-15 without an RBI in the postseason. Those were his lowest OPS and OPS+ marks since 2016 and 2019, respectively. But his .844 OPS still ranked 22nd among 145 qualified hitters in baseball.
Harper did not take the public critique lightly. He told reporters this spring that the comments felt “kind of wild” given that the Phillies had promised to keep internal matters private.
“I don’t get motivated by that kind of stuff,” Harper said. “I think the big thing for me was when we first met with this organization it was, ‘Hey, we’re always going to keep things in-house, and we expect you to do the same thing,’ so when that didn’t happen, it kind of took me for a run a little bit.”
Harper and Dombrowski have since communicated and agreed to move forward. Phillies owner John Middleton said he is “comfortable, confident that everything’s behind us now.” But the story has lingered, casting a shadow over Harper’s preparations for the new season. And the Yankees nation sees a chance in it.
Judge also wants defensive tips from Buxton and Crow-Armstrong
Judge did not limit his wish list to one player. He also mentioned Twins center fielder Byron Buxton and Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong as players he wants to study on the defensive side. Judge played center field for the Yankees in 2024 and already credits teammate Trent Grisham for improving his outfield play.
“They’re two of the best center fielders in the game,” Judge said. “That’s one thing that’s great about having Grisham, another one of the best center fielders in the game. Having him next to me to pick his brain, what he looks for, what he tries to train, what he does, so Bux and those guys all kind of do the same thing.”
For a player who already stands atop the sport, Judge’s eagerness to learn from a rival like Harper speaks to the relentless drive that has made him the face of the Yankees franchise. And for Harper, that respect from Judge could not come at a better time.
