Bobby Witt Jr headline not possible with this Yankees-Judge fact set

Aaron Judge went 0-for-4 and struck out in the Yankees’ 2-0 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday night at Yankee Stadium, then said, “I’m not doing nothin’ at the plate.” The slump has stretched to 10 games without a home run or an RBI, and it comes while the Yankees are trying to keep pace in the division.

Judge at Yankee Stadium

Judge finished with 16 home runs on the season, but none in his last 10 games. He entered the night hitting.206 with 7 hits in 34 at-bats over his previous nine games, along with 12 strikeouts and five walks.

Thursday’s loss fit the pattern around him. The Yankees managed three hits, struck out 14 times and went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position, leaving five runners on base.

Boone sees timing issues

Aaron Boone said Judge was “just going through a little bit right now.” He added that the issue was probably timing related, saying, “Usually that means good things are coming on the other side,” and, “Usually, anytime a hitter goes through it a little bit, it’s usually timing related, and I think that’s all it is.”

Boone also described the swing as “So, a little in between, probably.” Judge echoed the concern after the game, saying, “That’s what we’re doing right there,” and pointing to “making sure we’re swinging at the right pitches.”

Yankees offense under pressure

The larger problem has not been limited to one bat. Yankees hitters have posted a.660 OPS over the last 15 days and scored 50 runs in that stretch, a level that has left the lineup short on production even with Judge sitting seventh in baseball with a.935 OPS.

The contrast with last year is sharp. Judge won his third American League MVP award after hitting 53 home runs and leading MLB with a.331 batting average, a.457 on-base percentage and a 1.144 OPS. This year, his 16 homers are tied for third most in baseball with Ben Rice, whose 1.029 OPS leads the sport.

The Yankees had been set to host the East division-leading Tampa Bay Rays next, with Tampa Bay having swept them in three games at Tropicana Field on April 10-12. Two of those games were decided by one run and one by two, and the Rays were riding four straight wins and eight victories in their last 10 games while the Yankees sat 4 1/2 games back.

Judge’s night ended with another empty line in the box score, and the Yankees are left searching for the same thing he is: cleaner contact, fewer strikeouts and a lineup that stops leaving games like Thursday’s at 2-0.