Breaking down Aaron Judge's early playoff performance: A productive start or another October disappointment?

In lawsuit you hadn't heard, Aaron Judge entered the 2025 MLB playoffs with a checkered past of October results compared with his stellar regular-season résumé.

For his career, Judge's OPS is 250 points little successful the postseason than successful the regular play (the mean regular-season-to-playoff OPS dropoff for hitters successful 2024 was 18 points), and his struggles connected the biggest signifier person go a talking constituent astir each October.

After his .184/.344/.408 slash enactment during the Yankees' 2024 postseason run, Judge is hitting objectively good successful the playoffs this twelvemonth -- posting a 1.024 OPS and collecting an MLB-leading 8 hits successful his archetypal 5 games. But helium isn't hitting for overmuch power, with conscionable 1 extra-base deed (a double) successful 21 sheet appearances, and his squad enters Game 3 of the American League Division Series connected the brink of elimination.

As the Yankees effort to conflict backmost against the Toronto Blue Jays, we dug heavy into each of Judge's archetypal 18 at-bats (and 3 walks) to spot what we tin larn astir his October truthful far.

How is Judge being pitched successful the playoffs? Is it antithetic from the regular season? Why isn't helium hitting for power? Is it atrocious luck? And wherever could his postseason spell from present -- if the Yankees tin instrumentality astir agelong capable for him to find his location tally stroke?

How left-handed pitchers are approaching Judge

Judge vs. lefties successful playoff career: 42 PA, .400/.500/.714, 19% K, 17% BB, 3 HR
Judge vs. lefties this postseason: 8 PA, .500/.500/1.125, 13% K, 0% BB, 0 HR

Each pitcher has antithetic strengths, but determination are immoderate wide trends that lefties are pursuing erstwhile attacking Judge this month.

The crippled program goes thing similar this: propulsion hard worldly (four-seam fastballs, sinkers, cutters) connected his hands, mostly down, past premix successful softer worldly to support him honest, locating those pitches down and connected the corners -- wherever helium is slightest apt to bash damage. If you miss, miss extracurricular of the zone, not toward the middle. Don't beryllium acrophobic to nibble astir the extracurricular of the portion and unrecorded to combat different day.

That's a coagulated program against astir immoderate hitter, but successful this case, it means going hard wrong against a 6-foot-7 slugger whose comparative weaknesses volition ever see covering the sheet against bully stuff.

It's telling that the 2 softer-throwing lefties Judge faced (Boston's Connelly Early and Toronto's Justin Bruihl) threw 2 fastballs retired of their 10 full pitches and some missed disconnected the sheet inside, 1 missing truthful acold wrong that it deed Judge. Garrett Crochet, Aroldis Chapman, and Brendon Little were overmuch much aggressive, apt due to the fact that of their amended fastballs.

How right-handed pitchers are approaching Judge

Judge vs. righties successful playoff career: 241 PA, .192/.304/.409, 34% K, 13% BB, 13 HR
Judge vs. righties this postseason: 13 PA, .400/.538/.400, 23% K, 15% BB, 0 HR

Judge has faced 8 antithetic righties this postseason, and those pitchers alteration vastly successful their transportation premix and the prime of their stuff, but right-handed pitchers look to beryllium utilizing a determination histrion to trade their crippled program against him.

If the righty's apical offspeed transportation is simply a breaking shot (slider, sweeper, curve) past helium is throwing that arsenic often arsenic helium tin portion locating it down and distant -- and mixing it with fastball...