Red Sox’s Alex Cora sends message on Yankees’ Aaron Judge ahead of wild card series originally appeared on The Sporting News
The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have one of the the most historic rivalries in baseball, and now they’ll meet in the American League wild card series to see which club continues its postseason run.
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The wild card series is three games and they will all be played at Yankee Stadium, starting on Tuesday.
On Monday, ahead of the series, Red Sox manager Alex Cora sent a message on just how good Yankees’ star Aaron Judge is.
Alex Cora Sends Message on Aaron Judge
Judge is right with Seattle Mariners’ catcher Cal Raleigh as the favorites to win the AL MVP award in 2025. The Yankees’ star is the reigning MVP and has made the All-Star game in five straight years.
Cora spoke with the media on Monday ahead of the Red Sox wild card series against the Yankees and had an extensive response when asked what impressed him most about Judge this season.
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“That everybody thought he wasn’t going to be able to do it because he didn’t have Soto in the lineup. And he was the best hitter in the league,” Cora said. “Think about batting average – I know people don’t value it, but he hit .330 when guys are hitting .240. That’s special.
“He hits the ball out of the ballpark, he’s a good baserunner, obviously a little banged up defensively but he’s really good out there. Impressive.”
Judge led the MLB with a 1.144 OPS and a career-high .331 BA. He hit 53 home runs and collected 114 RBI, and led the AL with 124 walks.
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“Early in the season, before we faced them, I was watching like, ‘man, this is tremendous. Eye-opening,'” Cora said. “Just because of the fact that Juan went to the Mets, and people were like, ‘oh, they’re going to pitch around him and he’s not going to get pitches to hit,’ whatever. Nah. He’s that good.”
Judge will have an impact on the series, but limiting his impact will be key for Boston. The Yankees’ star has hit .287 with a 1.008 OPS against the Red Sox this season, which is lower than his season average, but still very strong numbers.
The Yankees and Red Sox begin their wild card series on Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 6:08 p.m. at Yankee Stadium.
