The New York Yankees capped off a sweep of the San Francisco Giants this weekend, and Aaron Judge returned home, playing in what nearly was his home park after nearly signing with the Giants as a free agent, and he said he heard from a lot of fans referencing Jon Heyman's quote from Dec. 6, 2022 that said “Arson Judge appears headed to Giants.”
“I heard it from the crowd quite a bit, but nah, it was fun, gave the fans something to talk about, something to laugh about, but glad to be with the Yankees and do our thing,” Aaron Judge said, via YES Network.
That Tweet from Heyman was erroneous, of course, and the next morning, on Dec. 7, 2022, Judge agreed to a nine-year, $360 million contract with the Yankees and was named captain. Giants fans were hopeful that Judge would sign with the franchise and become a hometown hero. That did not happen, and instead, Judge made his first appearance at Oracle Park this weekend.
Judge was serenaded with boos throughout the weekend, especially in his first at-bat of the series. In turn, Judge went 6-for-10 with three home runs and six RBI in the three games. His fingerprints were all over this series, especially the first two games. Juan Soto's two home runs were the headliner for the finale to close out the sleep.
While Judge grew up cheering for the Giants, specifically Barry Bonds, he was happy to come away with three wins with the Yankees in his homecoming.
“This was a pretty fun weekend,” Aaron Judge said, via YES Network. “You know, getting a chance to come in here and get the sweep and it was a lot of cheering, booing whatever kind of going on, but nah I loved it. I loved it. I loved getting a chance to be out there, and it lived up to it, that's for sure.”
The Yankees moved to 42-19 overall with the sweep, and sit three games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the American League East. Judge's monster month of May is a huge reason as to why the Yankees are atop the standings.
Aaron Judge caps off historic May with eventful homecoming
Judge struggled in April after missing time during spring training, but he started to show signs of heating up in the later days of the month. He followed that up by having an incredible month of May, with numbers that you would not believe at first glance.
In May, Judge had 36 hits, 14 home runs, hit .371, and posted a staggering 281 wRC+, according to FanGraphs. For reference, 100 is league average for wRC+, which is an all encompasing stat to evaluate offensive production. Judge's mark is 181 percent better than the league average hitter.
The advanced metrics are even more staggering for Judge in May.
The Yankees have a day off on Monday before returning home to take on the Minnesota Twins this week.
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