Inside Aaron Judge’s swing change that has contributed to another monster season

NEW YORK – Aaron Judge wanted change. One of the most feared hitters in the Majors, the New York Yankees center fielder, had struggled in the first few weeks of the season. At the end of April he was hitting just .207.

“I wasn’t that warm,” he said recently.

So Judge — who, like many players, often tinkers with his swing — committed to what seemed like a significant adjustment.

On May 5, he walked home and faced Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal with two outs in the first inning. Instead of adopting his usual open batting stance – with his left foot pointed toward the third baseman – he changed things up. He closed his stance a bit and pointed his foot more toward the thrower. He also stood a little straighter.

It worked like a charm. On a 1-1 count, Skubal attempted to swing a 97 mph heater down and into Judge. But he left it across the plate, and Judge nearly crushed it into the right-center field bleachers at Yankee Stadium for a solo home run.

Judge finished the game 2-for-3 with a double and a walk. Since then, he has reclaimed his place as baseball’s best hitter. Entering Monday’s road game with the Chicago White Sox, he led the American League in two of the three Triple Crown categories with 42 home runs and 106 RBIs. However, his batting average of .328 was second best behind Bobby Witt of the Kansas City Royals, who hit .347. Judge’s 217 wRC+ – an all-encompassing metric that measures a player’s overall value – was also the best and more than 30 points higher than that of his closest competitor, teammate Juan Soto, who stood at 186.

He also had 299 career home runs. He is on track to become the fastest player to 300.

The judge said the change has helped him with several things.

First, he said, it made him feel better. Second, it allowed him to be more effective against sliders and ejections in general. Through May 4, Judge was hitting just .154 with a .333 slugging percentage versus sliders. After May 5, he has hit .348 against them while batting .812.

“I’m just staying a little better on the outfield,” he said. “A lot of teams like to throw slider, slide away and then show the heater inside and then slide away – same thing. Only if I start a little closed or a little more upright, which I usually like to do, I can stay with that a little better.

He added that it made his front foot land more consistently where he wanted, pointing almost directly toward the thrower.

“I always want to get back on track when I land,” he said. “But sometimes when I start far away, I feel like I never got square again, so the field felt even further away. So if I start more square, you have a better chance of staying on some balls.

Of course, the change wasn’t a one-time adjustment. At several points this season, Judge has been even more square to the pitcher and has occasionally adjusted his height, all in the name of finding the right balance.

First baseman Anthony Rizzo — one of the best-hitting first basemen in the game since his debut in 2011 — said he noticed the change in Judge’s batting stance when it happened and said a hitter’s legs can be a key to his success . During workouts before spring training, Yankees players told each other that they wanted to spend a season focusing on keeping a close eye on each other’s at-bats and helping correct mistakes as they occur.

“Succeeding is very difficult,” Rizzo said. “But I think as long as you have your core base and you’re on time, it doesn’t matter where you start. … It’s a matter of feeling.”

Judge’s swing has looked more direct since the change, manager Aaron Boone said.

“In a way, it’s just made it easier for him,” Boone said, “and made him very efficient at what he does in the batter’s box. Plus, we’ve seen some great swing decisions. He’s very calm in the way he takes pitches, understands what he’s looking for and doesn’t try to do too much with it. He knows he doesn’t have to swing harder or add more. He slows it down really well, and I think the posture and the position he’s in – from my point of view and from looking at him – allows him to be more efficient.

Hitting coach James Rowson said it’s not unusual for even the best players in the game to make significant adjustments to become more comfortable at the plate.

“I don’t think it’s strange,” Rowson said. “I think if you take a hundred hitters, you’ll see them make adjustments just because of how something feels. It doesn’t mean you stay there. You could stay there. You could go back. I think as long as he gets to that point right now where he’s talking about where he feels like he’s in a good position to make a good move, then that’s where we want to be. Sometimes you make those adjustments to get that feeling back.”

Lately, Judge has had fewer opportunities to put his change into practice. Teams have once again given Judge the Barry Bonds treatment: they deliberately throw around him or deliberately outrun him rather than allowing him to beat them. This season, he is tied with Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros for most intentional walks in the game at age 13. They did the same to him toward the end of the 2022 season, when he set an American League record with 62 home runs.

Still, Judge said he felt good about the move, and that there may be more to come as he continues to seek solace at the plate.

“There are certain things you have to stick to and you know things will change,” he said. “But these are the little things where you just look at your tape and analyze your play and little things can stand out and it’s like, well, let me see if this will work.”

A reporter then suggested to Judge that the move did indeed appear to be working.

He smiled.

“Until now.”

(Top photo of Aaron Judge: Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)