It’s become clear that Aaron Judge’s arm still isn’t the same since he suffered a flexor strain in his right elbow on July 25.
Since his return to right field, the question has been whether opposing teams would run on him — especially in the postseason.
Each contested throw has been placed under a microscope, but there has been no question Judge would be in right for the playoffs as he continued to improve over the final two months of the season.
On Tuesday, the Yankees got their answer of just how much of an impact Judge’s arm might have on their postseason chances, as Nick Sogard hustled into second for a double on a hit with one out in the top of the seventh of Boston’s 3-1 win in Game 1 of their wild-card series.
The hit landed in right-center and Judge appeared to go after the ball hesitantly and then one-hopped a throw to Anthony Volpe at second base, not in time to get the speedy Sogard, who represented the go-ahead run.
The next batter, pinch-hitter Masataka Yoshida, hit a two-run single off Luke Weaver and the Red Sox never looked back.
Judge’s throw was clocked at just 73 mph. That was well below his pre-injury average of 88-90 mph, according to Statcast.
Asked if that was as hard as he could throw, Judge said, “[I was] trying to get in there and make a play. I didn’t want to overthrow it.”
Judge also noted of Sogard, who was clocked going from home to second in the fastest time of his career, “He’s quick. He got in there and you just try to make a play.”
And Aaron Boone added of Judge’s throw: “I think it was just controlling the one hop on it.”
Perhaps, but it obviously wasn’t vintage Judge and who knows if Sogard would have gotten into scoring position if Judge were at full strength in right.
But Boston manager Alex Cora indicated that running on Judge was part of his team’s game plan.
“That’s preparation,” Cora said. “We talk about their outfielders and, ‘What can we do or what [can’t we] do,’ and [Sogard] saw it right away and took advantage of it.”
The Yankees have no choice but to go with Judge in right, as Giancarlo Stanton is locked in at DH and Judge still showed his value in the field later in the seventh, when he made a terrific running catch of Nathaniel Lowe’s rocket to deep right that ended the threat and kept it a one-run game.
But Judge, who had a pair of singles and was stranded both times, and the rest of the lineup weren’t able to overcome Boston’s comeback in the seventh.
“We just got to keep playing our game,” Judge said of being in a must-win game beginning on Wednesday. “We came into this thing rolling. … We’ve just got to get a couple wins.”
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