A-Rod calls out Yankees for ‘gimmicky baseball’ with Aaron Judge leadoff

Alex Rodriguez wasn’t happy with the New York Yankees for batting Aaron Judge leadoff for Game 2, a contest they eventually lost.

It’s important to note that Judge has hit leadoff for the first two games of the postseason — and even some during the regular season — since it gives him the most opportunities at the plate overall. While he isn’t the prototypical leadoff hitter, the Yankees want to give their best hitter the most chances possible to do some damage.

That’s where Aaron Boone is coming from, at least, even if it doesn’t make much sense to the average baseball fan. Leadoff hitters (or at least the leadoff hitters we’re used to seeing) are primarily fast, contact-focused players at the plate. Judge can be that, but he often has a more powerful approach, hence his 62 home runs during the regular season.

Alex Rodriguez isn’t a fan of Boone’s analytical model.

“This is gimmicky baseball … It’s ridiculous that [Judge] is hitting lead off. It’s a mistake. I don’t know who’s doing it, Boone or Cashman, but somebody has to change that immediately,” Rodriguez said.

Yankees: Should Aaron Judge hit leadoff, or is A-Rod right?

Rodriguez’s point is that protecting Judge offers him more of an opportunity to hit quality pitching, and hit with men on base. He’s not wrong about this point.

However, Boone is betting on the quality of the Yankees lineup, rather than merely thinking about Judge. If Judge serves as New York’s best hitter, getting him as many chances as possible at the plate makes the most sense. It also offers those behind Judge to protect him, and limits the amount of times teams can pitch around him.

Essentially, Boone and Rodriguez have different mindsets about how a team’s best player should be utilized in the lineup. There is no right answer, for now. But changing things up a bit would make sense, especially given Judge’s struggles early against Cleveland.