The New York Yankees and Aaron Judge have a problem.
Judge has been white hot over his last nine games heading into Wednesday, posting a .485/.630/1.061 batting line with six homers across 46 plate appearances. The problem is that Judge has been walked 13 times in that space, including four intentional walks. He was intentionally walked three times on Sunday, becoming the first Yankees player since Bernie Williams in 1999 to draw three intentional walks in a game. It has gotten to the point where Joel Sherman of the New York Post feels that changes need to be made to the intentional walk rule.
The Yankees ultimately have to punish teams for giving Judge the Barry Bonds treatment. Catcher Austin Wells has done his part hitting behind Judge, having posted a .343/.375/.514 batting line in his 40 plate appearances. However, he is not nearly as dangerous a hitter as Judge. The Yankees have not provided much protection beyond the cleanup spot, Jazz Chisholm’s consecutive two-homer games notwithstanding.
The Bonds Era Giants and the 2024 Yankees have the same problem. Jeff Kent was a borderline Hall of Fame talent and provided a formidable duo with Bonds in San Francisco. However, the Giants never found another player who could consistently take the pressure off Bonds and Kent. Bonds holds the major league record with 688 intentional walks in his career and led the league 12 times, including three years with Kent in the lineup.
Judge is facing the same strategy this season. He and Juan Soto can be as formidable a duo as Bonds and Kent. However, Judge leads the majors with 11 intentional walks as teams are pitching around him. Wells is proving to be a solid hitter but he does not have the same ability to change the game with one swing of the bat. There is no reason to pitch to Judge.
Unless the Yankees find a way to punish the opposition for pitching around Judge, they may as well get used to seeing him trot down to first base. It is the same problem the Giants had with Barry Bonds.