How Yankees’ Aaron Judge reacted to 0-for-9, 8-strikeout doubleheader

Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge had the worst night of his career during the day-night doubleheader against the Tigers in Detroit, Mich. on Monday, June, 4, 2018 (6/4/18). He finished 0-for-9 with eight strikeouts.

DETROIT — There was no anger or frustration in Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge’s demeaner or voice following the worst day of his career, one that probably never will be topped.

His reaction was typical Judge, who smiled telling how he already was turning the page on going 0-for-9 with eight strikeouts and a walk Monday in the Yankees’ doubleheader split with the Detroit Tigers.

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“A terrible day,” he said after the Yankees’ lost the nightcap 4-2. “(But) that’s the beauty of baseball. I get to wake up and it’s fresh new at-bats. Just get ready for (Tuesday). That’s the only thing you can do.”

Judge was 0-for-4 with three Ks and a walk in the Yankees’ 7-4 win in Game 1 before whiffing five times in a row in Game 2. According to ESPN, he is the first player in MLB history with eight strikeouts in a doubleheader.

Judge credited the Tigers pitching.

“They were just hitting their spots in the corners,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing. When guys pinpoint their pitches and execute their pitches in certain counts, they usually do well in the mound. They just made their pitches and I just had a terrible day at the plate.”

The five strikeouts were a career-high for Judge, who has had a pair of four-strikeout games, one this year and one last season.

“No matter what you do in the past, either good or bad, it’s not going to help you in tomorrow’s game,” Judge said. “If I went 4-fo- 4 or 0-for-4, none of those at-bats are going to help me tomorrow when we’re playing Toronto, so why worry about them? 

“You learn from them. You learn from mistakes.”

Manager Aaron Boone expected Judge would act this way.

“He is absolutely unflappable,” Boone said.

As for all the striking out, Boone says he’s not concerned at all.

“That’s just the nature of his at-bats,” Boone said. “He gets so deep in counts that he’s going to have that occasional day where it’s like that, but he can just as easily put a big swing on one. I don’t think he’s really fazed by it.”

Judge may sit out Tuesday’s series opener in Toronto, but according to Boone, “it wouldn’t have anything to do with this.

“I’m considering it just because I was considering giving him a day at some point on this trip. But with the rainout (Sunday), I treated that a little bit like an off day. But a long day (Monday) … we’ll just wait and see.”

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