Many feel that it is not possible for Aaron Judge to repeat his 2022 performance in 2023. But Dillon Lawson, who is the Yankees hitting coach, believes the slugger can have another great year this season. He even expects him to do better.
Lawson told that Aaron Judge is the kind of player who looks at different parts of his season to figure out why he was good or bad at those times. Brendan Kuty of The Athletic quoted Lawson saying:
“He wants to get better. He’s always asking you, ‘What do you got for me?’ He’ll ask, ‘What do you think was going on with this stretch?” Lawson said, via Kuty. “Picking something apart and making sure where our sights are aimed this year, making sure we’re in the right direction. We want to maintain those strengths, maintain that performance, as difficult as that may be, then take another step forward. Is that possible? I think it is with him, for sure.”
Another 62 home runs is a pretty big goal for both Aaron Judge and Lawson. But the power hitter’s crazy 2022 season, in which he hit 62 home runs and broke Roger Maris’ American League record for home runs, came because of his constant push to improve.
For the Yankees to win in 2023, Aaron Judge will probably have to have another big season. The Yankees have Carlos Rodon to their rotation, which is one of the best in the MLB. But their offense but take charge. In the 2022 ALCS, the Yankees scored nine runs, but the Houston Astros beat them in four games. Anthony Rizzo is also coming back to the Bronx, which should help. However, the Yankees’ lineup looks a lot like it did in 2022.
Aaron Judge will need to be the key to the Yankees’ success again in 2023, and both he and coach Lawson seem to be counting on that.
Aaron Judge now has a bigger deal and he is the team’s captain. These two are likely to push him to contribute more and fans expect him to display fireworks in the 2023 season.
Analyst flays Brian Cashman
Brian Cashman was criticized by WFAN’s Brandon Tierney for stating that New York fans reacted too much when the team lost the ALCS to the Astros last year. Cashman commented that “the Yankees had a hell of another run” before being knocked out of the playoffs by Houston.
“You know who should say that? The Pirates GM if they ever stumble upon 90 wins and become a playoff team and get smoked in a wild card,” Tierney said. “Not the Yankees! Because when Brian Cashman says this, he is obscuring the ultimate point. And the ultimate point has been the roster he has been put in charge of putting together has not gotten it done.”
The Yankees haven’t won a title for the 13th year in a row. They haven’t been back to the Fall Classic since they won the World Series in 2009. The Yankees have been good, but not good enough for the fans. New York is always in the running to make the playoffs, but the team never makes it to the World Series.
Fans of the Yankees are also sick of the Astros beating them back every season. Since 2017, Houston has won the ALCS three times against New York. After going seven games with the Astros in 2017 and six games with them in 2019, the Yankees didn’t win a single game against them in 2022.
“It felt like the way our fanbase reacted and the press that we got knocked out in the first round,” Cashman said of the Yankees’ 2022 season. “So you can’t really remember sometimes reality versus the perception.”
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