David Lennon: Aaron Judge, leadoff hitter? Why the Yankees should consider the idea
Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees follows through on his first inning two run home run against the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, Apr. 19, 2026. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Yankees unveiled a new leadoff hitter Sunday with Ben Rice drawing the assignment for the series finale against the Royals.
He’s already the fourth Yankee to be put in that spot (through the first 22 games) and maybe the one that’s made the most sense, considering that Rice’s .468 on-base percentage before Sunday was second-best in the majors, fueled by a 20.3% walk rate that ranked fifth overall.
Those are two excellent qualifications, and Rice batting .339 didn’t hurt either. But if you ask us who the Yankees should reconsider in that revolving-door role, the choice is obvious: Aaron Judge.
The Yankees’ Rice-Judge pairing worked to perfection in Sunday’s 7-0 demolition of the Royals, completing a three-game sweep at the Stadium. Right from the jump, Rice worked a six-pitch walk from KC lefty Cole Ragans in the opening at-bat and Judge followed with a 425-foot blast, his ninth homer.
Judge now has 90 first-inning homers, including five this season, giving him the third-most in franchise history, behind Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle. The Yankees’ captain is the definition of instant offense, and with Rice now red-hot, having homered in four straight games, manager Aaron Boone should dip his toe in those Judge leadoff waters again, as he did during the 2022 season.
As reliable as Rice can be atop the order moving forward -- he was batting .352 (6-for-17) with an .882 slugging percentage off lefty pitching after his second-inning homer -- there’s no better protection for Judge, too. On Sunday, the two became only the third Yankees’ tandem to each have eight or more homers through the first 22 games, joining the 1956 duo of Mantle (11) and Yogi Berra (10) along with the 2022 combo of Judge (8) and Anthony Rizzo (9).
“He's always going to be hitting homers,” Rice said of Judge. “So to be able to hit some along with him is cool for me.”
Afterward, Judge was asked where he feels most comfortable in the lineup.
“Anywhere,” Judge said, “Anywhere in that first one through nine. It really doesn’t matter.”
The Yankees have grown accustomed to Judge in the two-hole, and today’s conventional baseball wisdom suggests that’s where the team’s most dangerous bat belongs. Just like it previously used to be the cleanup spot, and then at No. 3.
I’m sure there’s multiple-gigabytes of analytical data that defend keeping Judge off the top rung. But it’s not like he’s been automatically pencilled in at No. 2, either. Judge spent the entire 2024 season batting third behind Juan Soto in that legendary tag-team and he’s appeared there sporadically since. The Judge leadoff experiment pretty much came to an end for Game 3 of the 2022 Division Series win over the Guardians, but it was a very successful run.
Judge has better numbers in the leadoff spot than anywhere else in the lineup, hitting .352 (45-for-128) with 13 homers, 25 RBIs, a .466 on-base percentage and 1.177 OPS. Judge also set the AL single-season record with 62 homers that year, and earned the first of his three MVP awards.
That’s the historical evidence. As for how Judge fits right now, let’s take a look at his credentials -- as well as the competition on the current Yankees’ roster. Judge wasn’t really off to one of his MVP-caliber starts, sporting a .234/.337/.584 slash line before Sunday’s rain-delayed matinee at the Stadium. But those stats won’t stay down for long, and his nine homers are second in the majors behind the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez (10).
One especially helpful tool in Judge’s favor: he was averaging 4.52 pitches per at-bat, tied with the Mariners’ Cal Raleigh -- last year’s MVP runner-up -- for the fourth-most in baseball. And a fairly obvious fact: shouldn’t it be imperative to make sure that your most lethal hitter gets to the plate as much as possible?
Look at the Dodgers. They moved Shohei Ohtani to the leadoff spot in June of 2024 out of necessity -- the day after the previous tenant, Mookie Betts, suffered a fractured hand. Ohtani primarily had been the club’s No. 2 hitter, like Judge, but all he’s done since the switch is win back-to-back MVPs while leading the Dodgers to consecutive World Series titles.
We are talking about the Dodgers, the sport’s preeminent franchise, along with the irrepressible Ohtani, so there’s a good chance all that stuff still happens if Shohei stayed at No. 2 anyway. But LA continues to stick with that strategy -- why try to fix something that isn’t broken?
In Judge’s case, the Yankees’ offense could use a boost, particularly atop the order. Entering Sunday, their leadoff hitters were batting a combined .160, which was third-worst in MLB, with a .636 OPS that ranked 21st overall. Much of that had to do with the struggling Grisham driving the bus, with a team-high 15 starts at leadoff, as Boone opened this season by defaulting to the same plan that was sketchy last season (Grisham hit .202 with a .325 OBP in 89 games there).
By now, the Yankees must be coming to the realization that Grisham belongs further down the order. They can do better, as Rice and Judge teamed up for devastating effect in Sunday’s rout. Boone should think about flipping them, however, especially with Rice on his current roll (.338 BA, 1.276 OPS).
“He’s the leader,” Jose Caballero said of Judge. “And he’s always in front.”
What better place to do that from than the top of the order?
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
