Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was locked in at plate this spring

TAMPA, Fla. — If Aaron Judge was distracted by all of the talk about his contract — which started on the first day of camp and continued pretty much unabated — it didn’t show in his play this spring.

The rightfielder, who will become a free agent after the regular season if he and the Yankees aren’t able to work out a contract extension before Thursday’s season-opener against the Red Sox at the Stadium, was locked in at the plate pretty much from the time camp began 3 ½ weeks ago, and he remained that as the exhibition season came to an end for the Yankees with Tuesday’s 5-3 loss to the Tigers at Steinbrenner Field

Judge, batting second in the bottom of the first, laced a single back up the middle for a hit, part of a 1-for-3 afternoon.

Judge, 29, finished the Grapefruit League season 13-for-32 (.406) with four homers and a 1.347 OPS in 11 games.

Results that don’t matter in the least to the outfielder.

“It helps knowing we’re facing the Red Sox on Opening Day and that it’s our rival and it’s going to be a packed house,” Judge said. “Want to be locked in for that game for sure. But besides that, just glad to be seeing the ball well right now.”

Judge is in the same category as, well, pretty much every player — other than rookies or players coming back from injury who might need to put up numbers in the spring — when it comes to putting stock in spring training success.

As Derek Jeter often would say: "The results are probably the last thing that's on my mind."

Hot or cold springs are rarely predictive for players, with Judge last season one of many examples. After hitting .256 with two homers and a .728 OPS last spring, Judge, had it not been for the seasons put up by Shohei Ohtani and Vlad Guerrero Jr., would have very much been in the thick of the AL MVP discussion after hitting .287 with 39 homers and a .916 OPS in 148 games.

(Judge has also had spring results that have translated into regular season success, such as his breakout Rookie of the Year season in 2017 when he beat out Aaron Hicks for the starting job in right by hitting .333 with three homers and a .931 OPS in the spring).

“I mean, he’s Aaron Judge,” Aaron Boone said of what he’s liked best about Judge at the plate this spring. “He’s been pretty consistent from the start at-bat wise, which isn’t necessarily something that you worry about or think about with him in spring training because you know he has a process and he’s working. I feel like he’s done a good job really connecting with the hitting guys . . . certainly feel like he’s in a good spot here as we get ready to start [the season].”

As for his contract situation, Judge said on Monday it wasn’t causing him any additional stress.

“Not at all,” Judge said. “I understand the business side of it. I still have to come here, do what I have to do on the field, and if we sign a deal, if we don’t, it’s not going to affect me at all.”

It didn’t in the spring and the only question remaining is what happens between now and Thursday when it comes to a new contract, if there is one. Judge reiterated that Thursday, in his mind, is a hard deadline and that he won’t be talking extension into the season.

He said it has crossed his mind that this potentially could be his last Opening Day as a Yankee.

“You think about it,” Judge said after Tuesday’s game. “But ultimately it comes down to I’ve got games to win. It’s been a while since the Yankees fans have held a championship in the city, so I’ve got a job to do for them to go out and win it for them.”

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.