Aaron Judge’s first exhibition homer is a monster
Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge takes batting practice while Giancarlo Stanton, right, looks on during Yankee Spring Training at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa Florida on Feb. 20, 2018. Credit: Newsday / Thomas A. Ferrara
JUPITER, Fla. — As he often does when he gets hold of one, Aaron Judge put his head down as he began his home run trot. That’s why he wasn’t exactly sure where the ball went.
Aaron Boone, on the other hand, saw it all.
Judge hit his first homer of spring training Sunday in the Yankees’ 7-5 loss to the Marlins at Roger Dean Stadium, crushing a 3-and-1 fastball from touted righthanded prospect Sandy Alcantara.
The ball landed in the balcony area of the Marlins’ office building in left-center, a building that Judge cleared during batting practice with a drive that had coaches behind the batting cage looking at each other in disbelief.
“He just missed it,” Boone deadpanned of the in-game homer.
Judge, playing in back-to-back games for the first time in spring training, went 1-for-4. He grounded out and struck out twice before the blast.
“I was just glad I felt good in the box,” said Judge, who is 4-for-16 with three walks and six strikeouts in seven games. “I was swinging at the right pitches, especially with the guy on the mound [Alcantara], who gets it up to probably about 100 [mph]. Just wanted to make sure I stayed disciplined and stayed in my zone.”
Because of arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder Nov. 21, Judge was held back a bit in drills early in spring training and missed the first five exhibition games.
For that reason, he said this feels a bit different from 2017, when he engaged in a neck-and-neck battle with Aaron Hicks for the starting job in rightfield. The competition went down to the final days of camp before Judge won it.
“I was a little further along in spring last year [at this time] just because I didn’t have the injuries,” he said. “I had the whole spring to get my swing ready for the season. Right now, I’m still working on my swing. I’m a little behind in that aspect, but I’m just trying to be ready for Opening Day.”
All that’s left, Judge said, is to get his timing down at the plate.
“It’s getting there,” he said. “We’re still two weeks out [from the regular season], so you don’t want to peak too early. Still tinkering with some things. Still a work in progress.”
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.
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