Are the Yankees wasting Aaron Judge's prime? MLB insider believes so

Are the Yankees wasting Aaron Judge’s prime? MLB insider believes so originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The New York Yankees went down 12-0 in Game 2 of the ALDS to the Toronto Blue Jays, and while they fought their way back to within six runs, they never got close to mounting such an insurmountable comeback.

Following the Game 2 loss, MLB insider Ken Rosenthal for The Athletic wrote a piece titled: “The Yankees’ season is on the line. So are their chances to maximize peak Aaron Judge.”

This article from Rosenthal begs the question: Are the Yankees wasting Aaron Judge’s prime? Rosenthal, in one part of his article, made a brutal comparison between Judge and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. that highlights just how Judge is viewed in the playoffs.

Are the Yankees wasting the prime of Aaron Judge?

“Think about it,” Rosenthal writes. “Judge might win his third MVP award in four years, but Jays superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. arguably has produced more electrifying postseason moments in two days – a first-inning homer in Game 1, a grand slam in Game 2 – than Judge has in his entire career.”

This brutal encapsulation of the postseason performance of Judge and Guerrero Jr. showcases not just how the Yankees are wasting Judge’s prime, but how Judge isn’t taking advantage of his prime in the playoffs either.

The 34-year-old Judge is still one of the best players in baseball, but time might be running out for the Yankees to use Judge’s prowess in the playoffs.

Judge is hitting 8-18 this postseason, but aside from his lack of extra-base hits (one double), he couldn’t take advantage of a bases-loaded opportunity with no outs in Game 1 of the ALDS. He instead struck out on what would’ve been ball four.

More: Aaron Judge career postseason stats: Inside the Yankees star’s struggles with strikeouts on playoff stage

It’s a tough reality for the Yankees that Judge’s prime might be at risk of being wasted. But there’s still time to turn things around in this postseason, though, down 0-2 to the Blue Jays, it will be incredibly challenging.

The overarching point that Rosenthal has made highlights just how much wasted potential there has been in New York. While they made the World Series in 2024, they came up short against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

And while they’ve made it to the playoffs with Judge every year other than 2023, the Yankees haven’t won a World Series with Judge on the roster. Despite being one of, if not the best, hitters in baseball history, the Yankees don’t have much to show for it.

Judge is coming off an incredible regular season in which he had a .331 batting average with a 1.144 OPS, both league bests. With so much success in the regular season, it’s not hard to see why the Yankees’ lack of postseason success has Rosenthal writing about the Yankees wasting Judge’s prime.

Down 0-2 to the Blue Jays, on the verge of elimination, the series is coming back to New York for Game 3, and if necessary, Game 4. The Yankees are running out of time this postseason, and potentially with a superstar like Judge in the lineup.