Insiders: Yankees' Aaron Judge 'wearing down,' 'pressing' amid home run chase

When Anthony Crupi argued for Sportico ahead of the weekend that the New York Yankees should consider sitting All-Star slugger Aaron Judge for at least a night, Crupi pointed out that Judge hadn't "had a proper day’s rest since Aug. 3." 

Yankees manager Aaron Boone didn't go that route, but Judge nevertheless remains one home run shy of tying the American League single-season record of 61 homers set by Yankees legend Roger Maris in 1961.

Judge has now gone homer-less across his past five games and hasn't cleared an outfield wall since last Tuesday. For a piece published Monday morning, ESPN's Buster Olney indicated when asked if he thought Judge could win the Triple Crown that the 30-year-old could use a breather as of the final week of September. 

"In spite of manager Aaron Boone's statement to the contrary, I do think he's wearing down a bit from the scrutiny of the home run chase -- and after he breaks the record (assuming he breaks the record), I think there will be a bit of an exhale from him," Olney said of Judge. "We've seen that from other stars after passing milestones. But context is important: I'm the idiot who said at midseason he wouldn't get to 60 homers." 

Per Marly Rivera of ESPN, Boone insisted on Saturday he isn't concerned about Judge's physical or mental health as he chases history. 

"Hopefully, we can continue to kind of stack up some wins here and put ourselves in a position to where, in the last week, [we can] rest," Boone explained at that time. "Paying attention to not just Aaron, but to all the guys and what their needs are. I feel like [Judge] is in a good spot, as fresh as you can be mentally. I don't think this has been something that's worn him down. Because if I felt like it was, and he needed a day, I would give it to him."  

Also on Monday, Jon Heyman of the New York Post shared what a National League scout told him before the "Sunday Night Baseball" game between the Yankees and Boston Red Sox that was called after six innings because of rain. 

"Most definitely he has been pressing," that scout remarked about Judge. "With all his friends and family here, that puts a lot of pressure on him. Tough duty, but I’m sure he’s glad to be in it. He’ll get it when he’s not pressing or trying so hard." 

It's worth mentioning that not everybody agrees with Olney and the unnamed scout. Per Mark W. Sanchez of the New York Post, Judge was impressively selective as it pertains to swinging at certain pitches over the past five contests. 

"In Judge’s first 143 games this season, he saw 1,411 pitches that were outside the strike zone, according to Statcast’s zone measurement. He swung at 328, for a chase rate of just over 23 percent," Sanchez wrote. "In Judge’s homer-less games from Wednesday through Saturday, he swung at nine of the 42 pitches he saw that were out of the zone, for a chase rate of just over 21 percent. (One of those, by the way, was that check-swing strikeout that ended his final at-bat Saturday, a call he was not thrilled about.)" 

Whatever the case, Judge will again go after home run No. 61 of the campaign when he and the Yankees play at the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday evening.