New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto expressed his frustration over the Toronto Blue Jays’ repeated decision to intentionally walk Aaron Judge, which occurred three times during Sunday’s game.
“It sucks. You want him at the plate,” Soto said, according to The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner. “I’m doing my best to put him up, and you see them pass him over. It just really makes me mad. I don’t like that. I want them to challenge him and see what he can really do. It is what it is. It’s part of the game. They’re trying to win too, so you respect that.”
What happened
The Blue Jays’ cautious approach to Aaron Judge has been a significant talking point. Even during Saturday’s game, Judge was intentionally walked with two outs and nobody on base, a highly unusual move. John Schneider, Toronto’s manager, explained his decision after the game. “I honestly didn’t feel like seeing him swing,” Schneider said, as reported by MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. “He’s in a different category, I think, than anyone else in the league. He can flip the script of a game with one swing.”
Toronto’s strategy reflects the immense respect and fear Aaron Judge instills in opposing teams. The Blue Jays won the first game of the series on Friday but lost the next two, including Sunday’s closely contested match where they intentionally walked Judge three times despite being just one run behind.
Aaron Judge’s performance this season has justified these cautious tactics. ESPN’s Jorge Castillo highlighted that Judge became the first player in 50 seasons to be intentionally walked with the bases empty in the first two innings of a game. Judge leads the majors with 41 home runs and 103 RBIs, while maintaining an impressive .322 batting average, ranking third in the league.
The frequent intentional walks underscore Aaron Judge’s ability to change the game’s outcome with a single swing. However, for Soto and the Yankees, it’s a source of frustration as it deprives the team and fans of witnessing one of baseball’s most exciting players in action.
As the season progresses, it will be interesting to see if other teams follow the Blue Jays’ lead in handling Judge or if the Yankees can leverage the situations created by these intentional walks. For now, Soto and the Yankees will continue to advocate for their star slugger to get more opportunities at the plate, confident that his exceptional talent will prevail despite the cautious tactics employed by their opponents.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
It’s WAY PAST TIME for the Yankees to keep Screwing Around with Jasson Dominguez.
He’s hitting well in the minors & we NEED Dominguez hitting behind Judge to give pitchers second thoughts about Intentionally Walking Judge. Wells has done a Very Job in the 4th spot, but he doesn’t scare pitchers like Dominguez can if he approaches his performance from last year.
Also, putting Dominguez in CF would allow the Yankees to put Judge in LF. Verdugo could then serve as the 4th outfielder & sometimes DH with Stanton. As for Trent Grisham, release him, if needed, because Dominguez is a better all-around option in CF. Grisham has been decent, but he doesn’t scare pitchers the way Dominguez can.
The Yankees should also immediately flip-flop Soto & Judge. Judge is going to be Intentionally Walked More & More as the season progresses, and THE YANKEES CANNOT TOLERATE THAT ANY LONGER!
If opponents are going to continue to Intentionally WALK or pitch around Judge, THE YANKEES WILL LOSE THEIR BIGGEST OFFENSIVE WEAPON! That cannot be allowed to continue!
Besides, there’s Great Precedence for doing so, since the 1961 Yankees did exactly that with Maris & Mantle, moving Mantle from the clean-up spot to hit In Front of Maris, and Both Men Excelled As A Result, with Maris hitting 61 HRs & Mantle hitting 54 HRs. (And Mantle would have hit MANY MORE if he didn’t get injured/sick.)
Yes, the combo of Soto & Judge has been great, but the protection Soto would give Judge is now OBVIOUSLY NEEDED!
PLUS, Soto already walks (unintentionally) more than any batter in baseball because he has the best batting eye of any hitter, so his Intentional Walk totally will likely not go up as much as Judge’s. And if Dominguez is batting behind Soto, that may well prevent that.
BOTTOM LINE: DOES ANY SANE PERSON THINK THAT TRENT GRISHAM can be Anywhere Near As Valuable As JASSON DOMINGUEZ in our stretch run to Winning a World Championship?
If you said Yes, Grisham can be more valuable, you must be a METS fan who dreads the idea of the Yankees winning another World Championship. That or you have as much common sense as Cashman. Speaking of which . . .
STOP F**KING AROUND & CALL UP JASSON DOMINGUEZ ALREADY, CASHMAN! He very well could be our Most Important Addition of the year, other than Soto.
My bad! The 1st sentence Above should read:
“It’s WAY PAST TIME for the Yankees to STOP Screwing Around with Jasson Dominguez.”
(I originally said something about the fact that the Yankees “keep screwing around with Dominguez,” and I inadvertently didn’t notice that I failed to replace “keep” with “STOP” when I redid the sentence.)
Word! This is probably the smartest remark that can be the truth. Dum dum Boone n Cash-out Cashman better figure this out or they will be ran out of New York like GI Joe was. It’s now or never and don’t nobody care about them sorry @$$ Mets! Let’s go Yankees!!!!
Glad you agree, Rick Barksdale.
I just wish more diehard Yankee fans went on here & expressed their anger & contempt over Cashman’s inept time as a GM, and Boone’s bizarre faith in failed or failing veterans, and his refusal, until to VERY Recently, to reprimand Gleyber for his Sloppy, Lazy & often Indifferent Play.
Every Yankee fan, other than his relatives & friends, are sick & tired of Gleyber’s poor play & the ridiculous excuse that he’s upset about not receiving an extension.
You’re breaking our hearts with that excuse, Gleyber; how can you possibly be expected to play hard when you’re “ONLY” Being Paid $14.2 MILLION, right? POOR BABY! Go do you-know-what to yourself, Gleyber!
If you played as Hard & as Smart & just half as well as Judge, you’d already have a Multi-Million Dollar long-term deal, Dumb**s!