Yankees fans have officially given up on Aaron Judge after latest playoff choke job

The New York Yankees exorcised some demons in their come-from-behind Wild Card series win over the Boston Red Sox earlier this week. A bullpen that had been a bugaboo all season long finally got the job done, and a rivalry that had begun to feel awfully one-sided in recent years — and in 2025 in particular, as Boston won the season series 9-4 — saw New York's first postseason victory over their rivals up I-95 in more than 20 years.

But for all that catharsis, one big question still remained: Had Aaron Judge at long last put his playoff struggles behind him? The two-time AL MVP certainly wasn't bad against the Red Sox going 4-for-10 with an RBI and two strikeouts over three games. His legendary power basically disappeared, however, and one of those hits really should have been an error on Boston outfielder Jarren Duran. It certainly wasn't an F, but nor was it conclusive evidence that Judge could produce when New York needs it most.

No. 99 got the chance to provide that evidence loud and clear in Game 1 of the ALDS against the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday. Despite Toronto controlling the first five innings, the Yankees entered the top of the sixth down just 2-0 — and after a double from Anthony Volpe, a single from Austin Wells and a walk from Trent Grisham, Judge came to the plate with the bases loaded and nobody out. Forget a homer; even just base hit would turn the game on its head and give New York an improbable lead, and Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman appeared to be fading fast.

So, what did Judge do? He struck out on a 3-2 splitter, of course.

Cody Bellinger walked to force in a run and cut the lead to one, but a Ben Rice pop-up and a Giancarlo Stanton strikeout ended the threat — and New York's chances of stealing Game 1.

It's one thing for a pitcher to simply make a pitch and win the battle; Judge has certainly fallen victim to some very tough opponents over the course of his postseason career. This, though, left no room for excuses: Gausman was having a hard time finding the strike zone, and the full-count pitch he threw never appeared to be a strike before falling down at Judge's feet. There's just no way to excuse the best hitter in baseball swinging at that pitch, especially not in that spot.

And it seems as though, after years of keeping the faith and arguing for their superstar, that even Yankees fans thought this was the last straw for Judge as a playoff performer.

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Even Yankees fans can't deny that Aaron Judge has earned his October reputation

The numbers probably need no reiteration at this point, but just for fun: Judge entered Saturday a lifetime .212/.322/.446 hitter in October, and the numbers have been even uglier of late, with a .658 OPS in 34 games dating back to 2020. He still takes his walks, and his resume isn't totally devoid of memorable moments, but it's unacceptable for someone with the regular-season performance that Judge does to be down around the Mendoza Line in the postseason.

At this point, even Yankees fans are done defending him:

And really, even as someone who has gone to bat for Judge publicly more than a few times, it's awfully hard to blame them for throwing up their hands. At first it was a small sample size, and then it was bad luck or teams pitching around him or a myriad of other factors. But at a certain point, the body of work is what it is; that doesn't mean that Judge's regular-season greatness is somehow diminished, but it does mean that we reserve the right not to care quite so much when he time and again shrinks on the biggest stage.