Why a Slow Start for This Yankee Should Not Be Concerning
- Derek McAdam
- Mar 26
- 3 min read
Why a Slow Start for This Yankee Should Not Be Concerning
By Derek McAdam
March 26, 2025
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The New York Yankees' 2025 regular season begins tomorrow, and the campaign to make it back to a World Series will officially begin. This time, the Yankees are not just looking to make the World Series, but take home their first World Series Championship since 2009.
And this season will look completely different from last, especially with several injuries already impacting the team. The Yankees lost their ace in Gerrit Cole to Tommy John surgery for the season, as well as reigning AL Rookie of the Year pitcher Luis Gil for at least a couple of months. Additionally, Giancarlo Stanton is dealing with multiple injuries and could potentially miss the entire season if elbow surgery is needed. All three injuries are going to have a major impact on the Yankees, but that leaves room for other Yankees to step up.
The roster will also look different, as Juan Soto will no longer be hitting in the second slot just before Aaron Judge. And while Judge and Cody Bellinger can create a nice one-two punch, it is not going to be the same as it was with Soto and Judge, who combined for 99 home runs last season.
But remember early on in the season when fans were calling for Judge's head after a very slow start? Judge had a .125 average in March through four games and a .220 average in the month of April. During 116 at-bats between these two months, Judge grounded into 10 double plays and struck out 38 times while just hitting six home runs and driving in 18. Judge was also in the second year of a nine-year, $360 million contract, and those numbers simply did not live up to the expectations.
However, it was still early in the season. In May, Judge hit .361 and hit 14 home runs. In June, he hit .409 and added another 11 home runs to his tally, for a total of 31 home runs before July. Judge was returning to a similar form that he had in 2022, when he won his first MVP award. Judge would go on to have a solid July and August, although he did slow down a little in September and had a dreadful post-season with a.184 average.
Concerns were coming up again with Judge having a rough Spring Training at the plate, hitting only .129 with only one home run and 17 strikeouts in 31 at-bats. Sure, these statistics are abysmal to look at and can definitely carry some concern amongst the fanbase. However, I do not think that Judge's Spring Training, and even the start of the regular season if he gets off to a slow start, should be too much of a concern.
In April 2023, Judge hit .250 with five home runs, 12 RBIs, and 33 strikeouts in 88 at-bats. The average is not terrible, but that is an alarming number of strikeouts. However, Judge turned it around in May, hitting .342 and slugging 12 home runs in just 76 at-bats. He also slightly dropped the strikeouts down to 25 this month. And although the rest of his season was impacted by a toe injury at Dodger Stadium in June, Judge seemed to have been making some strides before his unfortunate injury.
The Yankees have seen many players over the years get off to slow starts and then turn things around a month or so into the season. One player that always comes to mind was former first baseman Mark Teixeira, who was infamous for getting off to slow starts nearly every season. But he always seemed to turn it around towards the end of April or early May, and ended up having several solid seasons with the Yankees. However, towards the end of his career, Teixeira went through many injuries and was not as effective anymore.
I can definitely understand why fans are voicing their concerns about Judge. Between the bad post-season numbers and the even worse Spring Training numbers, Judge does not look like the player Yankee fans are used to seeing. Although I am not exactly sure what has been going on with Judge, I would like to think that it was a combination of a longer post-season and just getting back into the swing of things.
However, with Judge's history, I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt if he gets off to a slow start this season. He managed to turn a terrible start last season into an MVP year. And yes, he absolutely has the potential to do it again. It all starts with playing the games, and the fun will officially begin tomorrow.
Giving a mixed response.
Sure, his history says “not to worry”. But, man, they really need him to come up big this year.
Not sure if they can survive an early season bad slump from him. Last year the rotation unexpectedly came up huge to start the season and mitigate Judge’s rough start. Can’t count on that again given all the injuries to starters and the Cortes trade.
Let's remember that despite Judge's struggles, the 2024 Yankees went 19-12, .613, in March-April (and likewise without Cole). It was June-August, 39-38, .506, that nearly sank them. For whatever reason, they wear down in the summer months (except for Judge). For this team, I worry that Stroman will start strong but wear down, as he always does, and that Carrasco will do likewise at his age and as the league catches up to whatever new thing he's doing that made him successful in the spring. Likewise, I fear the bullpen, particularly the middle and set-up guys, are going to wear down from overuse.
So IMHO, if the Yankees don't start out strong from March-May (and my 92-win prediction is based…
we have to be realistic
this team has a weakened, pedestrian rotation and will be required to score runs in order to win their games.
realistically, the more games that a team wins, the fewer the number of losses
and, in the real world, winning is gooder than losing.
in the initial 30 scheduled games, the Yankees will do good if they win 25
and they have a good chance to do real good if they score a lot
of runs
they got what appears to be a big ol bunch of realistically good lefty hitters (some with real good power)
but not so many right-handed power hitters
the chances of blasting their way to 25-outta-30 are really much improved…
I am concerned. Though i still think he will turn it around and have a very good season, I think his great years are limited. This is why i have felt the Yankees should go big and sign or trade for what they need and not let the payroll stop them. They needed a solid offensive 3B and have not obtained one. They definitely need a solid starting pitcher and I get the feeling they are going to wait until the trade deadline. Stroman is not going to cut it. Warren may be a good prospect, but he has looked shaky lately. Carrasco despite a good Spring Training is not someone I would rely on. I really hope that Cashman…