Aaron

Judge

Judge had a two-run homer in the first and a solo shot in the sixth for his 47th career two-homer game. He seemed especially proud of the second one tonight, as reliever Shaun Anderson had gone up and in on him in consecutive at-bats. The homers were his 373rd and 374th, moving him ahead of teammate Paul Goldschmidt and into third place on the active list behind Giancarlo Stanton (454) and Mike Trout (408).

It’s flown a bit under the radar, but Judge has gone deep just once in nine contests since April 1 while hitting 250 (8-for-32) with four RBI during that span. His full-season batting average has plummeted to .212 (11-for-52) during his recent cold spell. There’s clearly zero reason for concern given his track record, but Judge is clearly fighting through one of the worst sustained stretches of his career.

Judge’s 387-foot moonshot off Eury Pérez quickly swung an early Marlins lead back to the Yankees, and he also drew a bases loaded hit by pitch to force in another run in the second inning. It was Judge’s first multi-hit affair of the season, and though we can’t predict the future, we’re confident saying it won’t be the last after he hit .331 last season. Fantasy managers can continue to enjoy the ride.

At least the Giants got on the board for the first time this year. They even outhit the Yankees 9-7. Still, the Yankees made there’s count for more. Judge’s homer off Tyler Mahle was one of his lesser blasts, traveling a projected 383 feet after leaving his bat at 102.1 mph. His homers are still his only hits in 13 at-bats and he has a 7/0 K/BB, so he’s not nearly at the peak of his powers just yet.

Judge took advantage of the ABS system on what was called a 1-0 strike from Robbie Ray, getting it overturned when it turned out to be 0.1 inches low. He later homered with a full count on the seventh pitch of the at-bat, sending the ball 405 feet to left.

He saw Logan Webb pitching and thought it was still the World Baseball Classic? Judge went without a four-strikeout game last year, though this is the 15th of his career. Three of those were five-strikeout games. Judge was the only member of the Yankees lineup to go hitless in the 7-0 win tonight.

Rice steps into the heart of New York’s loaded lineup behind Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger following last year’s 26-homer breakthrough campaign. The 27-year-old slugger’s realistic 30-homer ceiling makes him an upper-echelon fantasy catcher heading into the regular season. Here’s the full lineup set to face Giants ace Logan Webb at Oracle Park in primetime: Trent Grisham (CF), Judge (RF), Bellinger (LF), Rice (1B), Giancarlo Stanton (DH), Jazz Chisholm Jr. (2B), José Caballero (SS), Ryan McMahon (3B) and Austin Wells (C).

Judge has three homers in seven games for the Yankees this spring to go along with the two he hit for Team USA. That’s more than his typical spring training output of late; he had two homers in 16 games in 2023, none in 10 games in 2024 and one in 14 games last year.

Team USA manager Mark DeRosa will turn to Bregman at the hot corner over Gunnar Henderson, who crushed a game-tying solo homer during Sunday’s semifinal win over the Dominican Republic, to face Venezuela lefty Eduardo Rodriguez. The other notable changes here for matchup reasons are Byron Buxton in centerfield over Pete Crow-Armstrong and Will Smith getting another turn at catcher over Cal Raleigh. Here’s the full lineup: Bobby Witt Jr. (SS), Bryce Harper (1B), Aaron Judge (RF), Kyle Schwarber (DH), Bregman (3B), Roman Anthony (LF), Smith (C), Brice Turang (2B) and Buxton (CF).

Henderson gets the nod over Alex Bregman at third base to face Dominican Republic starter Luis Severino, whom he’s had plenty of success against dating back to Severino’s time with the Yankees. The other notable change for Team USA manager Mark DeRosa involves giving Will Smith the start at catcher over Cal Raleigh. Here’s the full lineup: Bobby Witt Jr. (SS), Bryce Harper (1B), Aaron Judge (RF), Kyle Schwarber (DH), Henderson (3B), Smith (C), Roman Anthony (LF), Brice Turang (2B) and Pete Crow-Armstrong (CF).