Blue Jays resort to desperate move to pitch around Aaron Judge
Oct 18, 2022; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) reacts at the end of the fifth inning in game five of the ALDS for the 2022 MLB Playoffs at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
New York Yankees star Aaron Judge is officially getting the Barry Bonds treatment — and then some.
Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider on Saturday opted to intentionally walk Judge in the second inning, even though there were two outs and nobody on base. According to Baseball Reference, this was the first time in at least 50 years that a player was intentionally walked with nobody on and two out in the first two innings of a game.
This is the 1st time in over 50 years that an MLB batter has been intentionally walked with two outs and no one on base in the first two innings of a game. 😮 https://t.co/NDzVKwML8d
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) August 3, 2024
There were plenty of Bonds comparisons, but even Bonds never had this happen to him. While there were plenty of instances where Bonds was intentionally walked with two on and none out, none of them happened this early in a game.
Yes (thanks to @baseball_ref). Bonds was intentionally walked 41 times with the bases empty and 24 of those were with 2 outs. None of those 24 were in the first 2 innings of a game.
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) August 3, 2024
Judge had already hit a two-run home run in the first inning, which is likely why the Blue Jays were on high alert. Curiously, they did pitch to Judge in the exact same situation in the fourth inning, and struck him out.
It remains to be seen if any other teams will consider this very unusual tactic with Judge. At a certain point, you have to pitch to him, but when he gets hot, it’s tough to actually fault this strategy.
