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AL DIVISION SERIES: TWINS VS YANKEESOctober 3, 2019Aaron JudgeNew York, New York - Workout Day Q. You have a good relationship with CC. Hearing that he's not going to be on the roster for the ALDS, what's your reaction and feelings about that? AARON JUDGE: That's my first time hearing about it, actually. That's tough to hear, but we've got a lot of baseball to play. Hopefully, our road doesn't end here in the DS. Hopefully, he gets a chance to pitch in the CS or the World Series. First of all, our main focus is Minnesota, so we've got to get through that first, but that's tough to hear since CC's been such a -- you know, he's been a leader in this clubhouse, leader of this team for so many years, and his fire and energy that he shows on a daily basis when he takes the ball or takes the mound is something that's kind of worn off on a lot of us. It kind of defines our team, the grit and determination that CC shows. That's tough to hear, but we've got a lot of ball to play. Q. Aaron, just what do you think of the way home runs have been such a huge part of the game nowadays, especially going up against a team that set a record for home runs, one more than you guys, and especially the way in the playoffs home runs seem almost like there have been more of them in recent years? AARON JUDGE: Just recently, I feel like the game has changed in that aspect. I feel like there's so many shifts and so many different things going on in the game, why would I want to put the ball on the ground for the most part? 99 percent of the time it's on the ground, it's an out. I just feel like hitters have changed their mindset. I'm going to try to do some damage. I'm going to get my A swing off as much as I can rather than take a B or C swing and put it on the ground and it's an out. I've got three strikes. Why not take three chances to get one out of the park. That kind of changed the game. As you guys have seen in the Wild Card games so far, home runs are going to play a big part of it. A little tougher with pitching, as we see in the postseason, but that's what's happening in the game, man, home runs. We're going to see a lot of them, I think, this series, but maybe not. We'll see. It's going to be a fun series. Q. Aaron, what's most impressed you about Paxton this season? AARON JUDGE: Just besides -- the biggest thing is he's the best left-handed pitcher in the game, in my opinion, just based on the stuff he has and just his bulldog mentality on the mound. That's the one thing I felt was missing early on in the year. I saw it early when I think we played Boston at home for the first series. We saw a little glimpse of it and a little later on in the season when we really needed a big game, he showed up for us. But just recently, the past month or so, it's been mentality for him. He's always had the stuff. He's always had the good fastball that gets up to 98 or 99 at times, a little cutter, slider, big breaking ball, but going out there with the mindset that you're the best left-handed pitcher in the game. That's what I started noticing the past month, and I'm like, wow, that's what I expected when we made the news of making the trade for Paxton in the off-season, get an ace, get a guy like this who's going to go out there. Every time he steps on the mound, we're winning this game. The biggest thing I noticed with Paxton is his mindset. He's an animal out there. That's what he's shown the past couple starts, and that's what's going to help us going into the playoffs especially. Hostile environment, big situations, I feel like that's when Paxton shows up the most. Q. Aaron, when the Twins and Yankees played earlier this season in Minneapolis, that crazy 14-12 game that ended with the Hicks catch in centerfield, after that game, you said, we'll see each other again. Is this what you had envisioned when you said that? Like these two teams would make a heck of a playoff series? AARON JUDGE: Definitely. I don't know if they were first in the Central at the time. I think the Indians or them, they were back and forth, but I knew with the type of offense they have and the pitching they have, they would make a push for the postseason and be here. Just throughout that whole series, it was back and forth with homers, great plays, great pitching performances back and forth. They just give you that playoff feel early on in the season. I just knew. It was like I knew we were going to come back and see these guys eventually. I didn't know if it would be DS, CS, or what. That's a great ball club over there. We've got a great ball club ourselves, so I knew eventually we'd cross paths. I'm excited for this series. If those couple of games in Minnesota were just a taste of what's to come, it's going to be an exciting series. Q. Aaron, at any time since you dove on your shoulder, did you think there would be a possibility you wouldn't be ready for this? AARON JUDGE: Yeah, it creeps into your mind when you first dive and kind of jar things up, but once I started playing again, once I was back in the lineup swinging, throwing, everything feels fine. I knew I was going to be fine. There's always a scare. I got 270, 6'7" falling on the ground, it's a big impact, but we're feeling good. There was never a doubt once I started moving around again. Q. Aaron, next man up is a good rallying cry for a regular season, but is there a certain feeling with this group now that you're mostly whole and healthy heading into the most important games? AARON JUDGE: Say that one more time. Q. Next man up is a philosophy that plays well in the regular season, but is there a certain feeling with your group now in the clubhouse that you're mostly whole and healthy heading into these most important games? AARON JUDGE: Yeah, we're going to be healthy. We're still missing a couple of guys. I know Edwin and a couple other guys are coming back, but I still like that next man up mentality. To be honest, you can kind of translate it to, if I go up there in a big situation and I don't get the job done, I know I've got the guy behind me that's going to step up and fill that hole and fill that role. So I think the next man up mentality is still going to play for us in the postseason. To be honest, you never know what's going to happen in the postseason. You never wish for injuries or wish for anything to happen, but guys can get hurt, and guys are going to continue to step up for this team. That's what this team is about. We've already faced so much adversity throughout the year. I like that next man up. I think it fits this team, and it's going to fit us going into the postseason. Q. Aaron, we see young players across the game make an impact -- Soto, Acuna. How important has Gleyber's consistency been over the last year-and-a-half at that age? AARON JUDGE: Wow, I've never seen anything like Gleyber, especially at his age, 22, to be doing what he's doing in the big leagues is something that's unheard of. When I was 22, I was playing in A ball in Charleston, South Carolina, not nearly on as big a stage and facing the best arms in the biggest situations in the world. No, he's going to be huge for us going down this stretch, especially getting a taste of the postseason last year, the Wild Card game, playing in four games, and then the Division Series against Boston. I think a lot of big moments throughout the year, I look back -- playing the Dodgers, big games against Boston -- Gleyber always stepped up. Always had a big three-run homer, made a play on defense, did something big for us. I feel like this postseason we're going to see something special out of G.T., man. You saw it all year. He comes up with big homers, comes up with great plays. It didn't matter if he was playing second or short, he always did something to kind of wow you. I remember back when he was a rookie and he was kind of going off. I was talking to, I think it was Brett Gardner, I told him, hey, man, you're looking at the rookie of the year here. Little did I know, Miguel Andujar was going to put up the same numbers and have a great year, too, and he won it. I just saw something special with the way he played and he's always trying to learn and always trying to work, and consistently, he's always there for his teammates. It doesn't matter if he's 0 for 4 or 4 for 4, he's going to have everybody's back and have a moment and have an impact on the game. We're going to see something special out of him, I know, in this postseason. Q. You talked about the Red Sox celebrating at this stadium as just a great disappointment last year. You talked about Game 7 in Houston also, losing that ALCS, not moving on as a motivator. How much is disappointment a motivator for you these playoffs? AARON JUDGE: Any year you're not the last man standing, the season is a fail. It doesn't matter how many games you win in the postseason. You can win every single game in the regular season, but if you lose in the postseason, it doesn't matter. Each year, it left a bad taste in my mouth, especially Game 7 in Houston, Game 4 here at home, losing on our home turf to our AL east rivals, never a good taste going into the off-season. But a lot of guys, that keeps us hungry. That's kind of how I always saw it was we're getting closer and getting to learn. My biggest motivator and biggest lessons I've learned is always from failure. Failing -- I just think back to a lot of those games in '18, the little things. The little things we missed out on, the little details we missed that might not have affected a certain play now but affected us later in the game or affected something later on. That's what this team in 2019 has capitalized on is doing the little things. Doing the little things right each and every day. On defense, running the bases, in the box, controlling the zone -- that's something that Booney always talks about, controlling the zone. I feel like, when you do the little things, you're going to be the championship team or be the better team. Failure is -- that's a tough pill to swallow, but it can always be one of your biggest motivators. Q. Aaron, when you think back to your first postseason experience and your second, this is going to be Giancarlo's second time here. How do you think, having done this last year, will help him this year in terms of being more comfortable and sort of knowing what to expect? AARON JUDGE: It's just like taking a test. First year is like a practice test, where you go through the motions, your first time into it. You kind of get -- because I remember in '17 for Minnesota, that Wild Card game, I could sit up here and say I wasn't nervous, but I was nervous, excited. I think just, after you get a couple games in, get that feeling of what the postseason is about, you just kind of -- you settle down a little bit. You're able to slow the game back down, and I think that's what Giancarlo is going to do. He got a taste of the Wild Card game, hit a big homer for us there. Played in the DS, got some big hits there. Now it's just another game. He's been in this game now for eight, nine years. He's going to be ready. I'm excited for him. He's going to have a big -- I know he missed a lot of time this year in the regular season, but he's going to come through big for us. Just what I've been seeing in the cages, just seen the past couple games in Texas, how he's hammering the ball. His approach at the plate has been rock solid. It looks like he hasn't even missed a game. It looks like he's been playing since March. I think just getting those couple games, getting the atmosphere, and he'll be ready for the postseason. Q. Aaron, knowing that batters tinker and tweak with their swings every day, you mentioned earlier your disdain for ground balls. Across the last five weeks of the season, you went from about hitting the ball on the ground almost half the time, cutting that down to about a third of the time. How did you make that adjustment? How did you get more lift into the ball? AARON JUDGE: It's tough to say. It's a constant, constant progress, constant work, constant grind with me. Working on stuff in the cage. I never get satisfied. I can't really put it to one thing that I'd really change. I'm always tinkering with things. I can't really say if stance, approach -- usually my stance and everything has been the same. Usually it's just about approach, trying to do more damage on certain pitches. Even though I try to walk a lot or try to get on base, I've been trying to just go up there and do damage each and every single pitch, especially with the type of lineup we have. When D.J. is getting on base, I feel like every single time he gets up there, I'm always in a good opportunity always with guys on base. So I just kind of try to do a little bit more damage. Q. Aaron, being in New York City, you're able to see the Latino influence, the Latino culture a lot. Particularly with the New York Yankees, how do you see that impact -- you mentioned Gleyber, but how do you see the Latino impact in this team? You saw MLB released the promo video, the hype video with a lot of that influence. Can you talk on that? AARON JUDGE: Especially here in the Bronx, there's a big Latino culture. I feel like, if there's any way we can impact those kids and show those kids there's an escape route, an escape route out of bad situations through baseball. That's one thing I've always seen as baseball and sports as a learning tool. If we can show those kids how much fun this game is, here in New York, man, I feel like that's the biggest thing. That's bigger than the game, just impacting kids' lives, giving them something to cheer for, giving them something to do, giving them something to look forward to. Especially when they see Gleyber Torres hitting homers here in the DS and Gary Sanchez hitting homers here, that's going to pump some kids up and hopefully turn some kids here in the Bronx into future Yankees. Q. Aaron, you've played two Octobers here now. How would you describe Yankee Stadium in the playoffs, the atmosphere? AARON JUDGE: First thing that comes to mind is electric, but that doesn't even define it, I don't think. Just from the pregame stuff to you can feel the -- it's a little brisk here. The weather is cooling off. All of a sudden, you're lining up for the National Anthem, and you look out in the stands, and you can't even hear the last half of the anthem because the fans start getting crazy and getting loud. You feel like you're floating out there when you're warming up and stretching. I honestly don't even know how to describe it. I think you guys have asked me this a couple times now. It's just electric. The stadium comes alive when those fans fill it up. Man, I feel like some of the ghosts from Yankees past are here with us whenever that stadium gets rockin'. That's why I can't wait for the game tomorrow night. I've already been watching film on last year's Wild Card game, the 2017 Wild Card game, and just can't wait. I can't wait. Q. What are you trying to pick up watching those games? Do you just want to relive the memories, or are you trying to learn things from your past experiences? AARON JUDGE: It's a mix of all of that. I like looking at past at-bats, but the most part, I'm just -- the energy. That's what I'm feeding off of. You can just -- especially in '17, we got down early. The crowd stayed in it. All of a sudden, watching Didi's homer on repeat, watching the crowd get electric and back into it. I love watching that. I love watching '17, us getting up early, the players dominating, the fans feeding off that, us feeding off the fans, just everything about it. Just getting excited for October baseball. This is the regular season. They can say that 162 is the regular season, but that's Spring Training. This is when it counts. This is when it all counts. This is when it matters. The first one to 11. So it's going to be some fun. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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