On Saturday, U.S. time, Aaron Judge spoke at the George W. Brown on Saturday. George M. Steinbrenner Field made his debut in this year's spring training warm-up tournament as the Yankees beat the Astros 9-3. The captain hit a first-run with a two-point hit and revealed after the game that he would sprint for 40-50 spring training hits to improve his opening season.
"I've been doing a lot of practice on the infield, like playing against the likes of Gerrit Cole in the early days of spring training," Judge said, "and my goal is to get 40-50 fights, which might give us a better start to April." During last year's spring training, Judge hit only 5 hits (.208 batting average) in 24 hits in the Grapefruit League, and his batting average was below .200 for a long time (as of April 27) in the March-April regular season, and finally ended the period with 22 hits (.220 batting average), 6 hits, and 17 RBIs.
However, the two-time American League MVP then showed a reign of terror - breaking 1.000 OPS per month from May to September, and finally won the championship again with .267/.406/.613 season data, 37 hits, and 75 RBIs. Speaking about his motivations, Judge admitted: "I did feel well prepared in the opening game, but looking back on the whole season I always think: 'What else can be improved?' Just as it takes more training to improve bench press, it may take more hits to optimize your season. "
The Yankees will host their season opener against the Brewers at Yankee Stadium on March 27. Judge stressed that he will count training court attendances to his spring training total: "This could be a way to help the team get off to a better start. We're ready, of course, but there's no end to exploring room for improvement. "
It's worth noting that Judge started the season last year with a sluggish batting average, but he still contributed six home runs — and his long-hitting threat was always there. With the spring training schedule doubling (24 in last year's spring training warm-up games), whether the heavy gunner can achieve a "hot start" in 2024 will be a key variable for the Yankees to shock the championship.