JUST IN : Michael Kay has worst possible solution for sudden Aaron Judge problem

This “solution” does not actually resolve anything.
Aaron Judge has had a historically impressive season. He has performed so well that the Toronto Blue Jays intentionally walked him four times in two games, twice with the bases empty.

Taking Judge’s bat away is completely cowardly, and it stinks for New York Yankees supporters, as well as all MLB fans who watch on TV and spend good money to attend games. With that stated, can you truly blame the Blue Jays? Judge reached base 11 times in 15 plate appearances but scored only three times. He drove himself in twice, both times by hitting home homers.

Sure, the Jays lost the series, but they had a legitimate chance to win two of three games, thanks in large part to how they handled Judge. The goal is to win the game. At this point, given how this Yankees squad is built, it’s difficult to see how the Jays are to blame, no matter how angry Juan Soto becomes.

Having said that, the Jays’ decision to walk Judge even with the bases empty creates a question. If this becomes a practice that every team follows, viewers will be unable to see the best batter in the game swing.

Knowing this, Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay proposed a remedy on The Michael Kay Show to try to prevent this.

prevent it from happening. Unfortunately, his solution does not effectively tackle the problem. “So you purposefully walked Aaron Judge three times. Now, I am not claiming John Schneider did anything wrong. I thought it was strange how he did them; it didn’t make any sense. Why walk him? When you walked him on Saturday with two outs and nobody on in the second inning, it was the first time in baseball since 1972 that a person was intentionally walked in the first or second inning with no one on. This is the first time since 1972, or 52 years ago.This time, they walked Judge, and Austin Wells came next.”

The program quotes are courtesy of Awful Announcing.

Michael Kay’s answer to the Aaron Judge conundrum does not address the problem.
Here’s why they walked Judge to that location. He is performing at an outrageously high level. Austin Wells has been good, to his credit, but he is not Judge. With two outs and no one on, the Blue Jays believed they had a greater chance of getting out of the inning by going after Wells rather than Judge. Sure enough, Wells singled, but Gleyber Torres struck out to finish the inning. The Jays did not allow a single run, passing Judge’s spot in the order in the process. They reaped significant benefits from their decision.

To potentially address this, the Yankees may flip Judge and Juan Soto in the

Michael Kay’s answer to the Aaron Judge conundrum does not address the problem.
Here’s why they walked Judge to that location. He is performing at an outrageously high level. Austin Wells has been good, to his credit, but he is not Judge. With two outs and no one on, the Blue Jays believed they had a greater chance of getting out of the inning by going after Wells rather than Judge. Sure enough, Wells singled, but Gleyber Torres struck out to finish the inning. The Jays did not allow a single run, passing Judge’s spot in the order in the process. They reaped significant benefits from their decision.

To potentially address this, the Yankees may flip Judge and Juan Soto in the order. Would opponents pitch around Judge knowing that an MVP candidate is batting just behind him?
This may cause teams to purposely pitch around or walk Soto, demonstrating that this is a Yankees problem rather than an MLB problem. If they had a stronger lineup, this would not be happening.I’m astonished that anyone pitches to Judge, despite the fact that Austin Wells has done really well behind him. But what about intentional walks? That seems weird to me. Don’t you want to try to get him out? But here’s my point regarding baseball’s flaw: strategy has historically been what made baseball great. An intentional walk here, pitch around the guy over there, you’re just trying to

Outthink the opposing team to counteract any advantage they may have.” You’re astonished that anyone would try to pitch to Judge, but you don’t want them to intentionally walk him? What do you want? Do you want pitchers to just throw four pitches to Judge that aren’t in the strike zone and see if he chases? What does this accomplish? Again, if the Yankees had a stronger lineup around Judge, the Jays would never do this.

“I have always said, ‘Let’s really get funky here.'” In the ninth inning, you can reset and send up the three hitters you want. ‘All right, I want to send up (Anthony) Volpe, Soto, and Judge.’ Then you get an opportunity. Then, you’ll witness your top players in the most important moments of the game.

On the queue. Baseball should think of something like that. I know they’re resistant to change because baseball is virtually biblical. Other sports’ regulations are continually changing. Baseball requires an act of Congress—and we know how Congress works—so it takes forever.” Let’s just take a moment to appreciate the absurdity of deciding the batting order during the ninth inning. The Blue Jays deliberately walked Aaron Judge with the bases empty and two outs in the second inning of a game. Why would they throw to Judge with the game on the line in the ninth inning?

The only way that would make sense is if the bases were loaded and there was nowhere to put him.

If the Yankees were down by several runs and the bases were empty. If the game is on the line, teams will have a stronger incentive to avoid facing Judge. This technique does not address the issue of Judge not getting to bat. “The people that went to Yankee Stadium…they wanted to see Aaron Judge hit,” she said. “Three times they were refused because they simply pointed to first base. They no longer throw four pitches.Pete Walker, the pitching coach, told Joel Sherman, who reported about it in The Post today, “I believe other teams will do this.” And that’s going to really suck for baseball because you’re essentially removing the bat out of the hands of one of the The most unique players you’ll ever see. I’m not sure how it can be. It’s part of the strategy, I understand, but it stinks. Again, I’m not sure what throwing four pitches nowhere near the plate does, but if he wants it back in the game, that’s great (though the pace of play might disagree). Kay is correct in stating that it stinks for baseball. Nobody (save opposing fans) wants to see Judge go, especially in a crucial moment. But can you blame the Blue Jays for doing it? He is that lethal. Other teams would be well to follow suit, especially given how well it worked for the Blue Jays. This is not their fault. It’s on the Yankees to not field a

good enough team surrounding Judge. There’s a reason teams are not intentionally walking Shohei Ohtani with the bases empty. He has All-Stars hitting behind him! The same goes for many other superstars. In Judge’s case, though, Austin Wells, while he has played well, is far from a star. He doesn’t strike fear into the opposition. Why face Judge when a much lighter hitter is on deck? It makes no competitive sense if the goal is winning. “In no other sport can you actually remove the best player and say, ‘He can’t play anymore.’”

As for this point, that’s kind of true, but not fully. Double teams exist. The best receivers in football are doubled, and sometimes triple-teamed. In the NBA, teams do their best to try and deny Stephen Curry the ball at the three-point arc with the game in the balance. It’s not quite the same, but the sports aren’t the same.

You can’t take players off an NFL field or NBA court, but defending them differently is essentially saying ‘he can’t play anymore.’ Plus, it’s not as if they’re banishing Judge to the dugout. He’s on first base. It’s on someone else to come through! It’s only an issue and becoming a trend because the Yankees do not have the hitters capable of coming through.
Aaron Judge being intentionally walked like he was over the weekend is a problem. It’s not what MLB wants to see. Banning intentional walks only to force pitchers to throw four pitches nowhere near the plate and having teams pick their order for the ninth does not solve the Judge problem.

The only solutions are either Judge slowing down to the point where he isn’t scarier at the plate than he is at first base, or the Yankees adding a big bat to hit behind him. That’s what it comes down to. Until either of those things happen, teams should and hopefully will continue to avoid pitching to him, especially in big moments.