This “solution” doesn’t actually solve anything.

Aug 4, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees left fielder Aaron Judge (99) looks up after being intentionally walked during the fifth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports / Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Aaron Judge has had a historically great season. He has been so good, in fact, to the point where the Toronto Blue Jays intentionally walked him four times in two games including twice with the bases empty.

Taking the bat out of Judge’s hands is absolutely cowardly, and it stinks for the New York Yankees fans and really all MLB fans who tune in on TV and pay good money to go to the ballpark. With that being said, though, can you really blame the Blue Jays? Judge reached base 11 times in 15 plate appearances, but only scored three times. He drove himself in two of those times by hitting home runs.

Sure, they lost the series, but the Jays had a legitimate shot at winning two of three thanks in large part to how they handled Judge. Their goal is to win the game. At this point, with how this Yankees team is constructed, it’s hard to see how the Jays are at fault here, no matter how mad it makes Juan Soto.

With that being said, though, the Jays choosing to walk Judge even with the bases empty raises a dilemma. If this becomes a trend that every team follows, fans won’t be able to watch the best hitter in the game take swings.

Knowing this, Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay came up with a solution on The Michael Kay Show to try and prevent this from happening. Unfortunately, his solution doesn’t really solve the problem.

“So, you intentionally walk Aaron Judge three times. Now, I’m not saying John Schneider did anything wrong. I think it was weird when he did them; it didn’t make much sense. Why would you walk him? When you walked him on Saturday with two outs and nobody on in the second inning, that’s the first time that had happened in baseball since 1972, to have a guy (intentionally) walked in the first or second inning with two outs and nobody on. First time since 1972, so, 52 years ago…This time they walk Judge and Austin Wells was next.”

Quotes from the show are courtesy of Awful Announcing.

Michael Kay’s solution to Aaron Judge dilemma doesn’t solve the problem

Here’s why they walked Judge in that spot. He’s performing at an absurdly high level. Austin Wells has been good too, to his credit, but he’s not Judge. With two outs and nobody on, the Blue Jays thought they had a better shot at getting out of the inning by going after Wells instead of Judge.

Sure enough, Wells did single, but then Gleyber Torres struck out to end the inning. The Jays did not allow a run, and passed Judge’s spot in the order in the process. That decision paid off big time for them.

One way for the Yankees to potentially counteract this is to flip Judge and Juan Soto in the order. Would teams pitch around Judge knowing that an MVP candidate is hitting right behind him?

This might cause teams to pitch around or walk Soto intentionally, but that proves that this is more of a Yankees problem than an MLB problem. If they had a deeper lineup, this would not be happening.

“I’m amazed, even though Austin Wells, batting behind him, has done very well, I’m just amazed that anybody pitches to Judge. But intentional walks? That’s a little bit odd for me. Don’t you want to try to get him out? But here’s my point about the flaw in baseball: in the past, what made baseball great is the strategy. An intentional walk here, pitch around the guy there, you’re just trying to outthink the other team to offset whatever advantage they might have.”

You’re amazed anyone tries to pitch to Judge, but don’t want them to intentionally walk him? What exactly do you want? Do you want pitchers to just throw four pitches nowhere near the strike zone to Judge to see if he’ll chase? What does that accomplish? Again, if the Yankees had more talent around Judge, the Jays would never do this.

“I’ve always said, ‘Let’s really get funky here.’ In the ninth inning, you get to recalibrate and send up the three batters you want. ‘Alright, I want to send up (Anthony) Volpe, Soto and Judge.’ Then, you have a chance. Then, you’re gonna see your best players…in the biggest moments with the game on the line. Baseball should consider something like that. I know they’re loathed to change because it’s almost biblical, baseball. Other sports, they change rules constantly. Baseball, it takes an act of Congress — and we know how Congress works — so it takes forever.”

Let’s get the outrageousness of getting to decide the batting order for the ninth inning out of the way for just a second. The Blue Jays intentionally walked Aaron Judge with the bases empty and two outs in the second inning of a game. Why exactly would they pitch to Judge with the game on the line in the ninth inning?

The only possible way that’d make sense is if the bases were loaded and there was nowhere to put him, or if the Yankees were trailing by multiple runs and the bases were empty. If the game is on the line, that’d give teams more of a reason to bypass the opportunity of facing Judge. This solution does not solve the problem of Judge not getting to bat.

“The people that went to Yankee Stadium…they wanted to see Aaron Judge hit,” Kay added. “Three times they were denied that because they just pointed to first base. They don’t even throw four pitches anymore…Pete Walker, the pitching coach, told Joel Sherman, who wrote it in The Post today, ‘I think other teams are gonna do this.’ And that’s gonna really stink for baseball because you’re literally taking the bat (out of the hands) of one of the most special players you’ll ever see. I don’t know how it can be. It’s part of the strategy, I get it, but it stinks.

Again, I don’t see what throwing four pitches nowhere near the plate accomplishes, but if he wants that back in the game, that’s fine, I guess (although pace of play would disagree).

What Kay is right about is that it stinks for baseball. Nobody (other than opposing fans) wants to see Judge be walked, especially in a big moment. However, can you blame the Blue Jays for doing it? He’s that lethal. Other teams would be wise to follow suit, especially because it worked when the Jays did it. This isn’t their fault. It’s on the Yankees for not fielding a good enough team surrounding Judge.

There’s a reason teams are not intentionally walking Shohei Ohtani with the bases empty. He has All-Stars hitting behind him! The same goes for many other superstars. In Judge’s case, though, Austin Wells, while he has played well, is far from a star. He doesn’t strike fear into the opposition. Why face Judge when a much lighter hitter is on deck? It makes no competitive sense if the goal is winning.

“In no other sport can you actually remove the best player and say, ‘He can’t play anymore.’”

As for this point, that’s kind of true, but not fully. Double teams exist. The best receivers in football are doubled, and sometimes triple-teamed. In the NBA, teams do their best to try and deny Stephen Curry the ball at the three-point arc with the game in the balance. It’s not quite the same, but the sports aren’t the same.

You can’t take players off an NFL field or NBA court, but defending them differently is essentially saying ‘he can’t play anymore.’ Plus, it’s not as if they’re banishing Judge to the dugout. He’s on first base. It’s on someone else to come through! It’s only an issue and becoming a trend because the Yankees do not have the hitters capable of coming through.

Aaron Judge being intentionally walked like he was over the weekend is a problem. It’s not what MLB wants to see. Banning intentional walks only to force pitchers to throw four pitches nowhere near the plate and having teams pick their order for the ninth does not solve the Judge problem.

The only solutions are either Judge slowing down to the point where he isn’t scarier at the plate than he is at first base, or the Yankees adding a big bat to hit behind him. That’s what it comes down to. Until either of those things happen, teams should and hopefully will continue to avoid pitching to him, especially in big moments.