Aaron Judge, who was appointed captain of the New York Yankees with a long-term contract, started the first cannon of the season.
Judge started as the designated hitter in the 2023 Major League Pittsburgh Pirates exhibition game held at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida, on the 7th (Korean time).메이저놀이터
He retired on a shortstop grounder in his first at-bat, but got on the plate in the second inning with his team leading 3-0. He faced Pittsburgh’s second pitcher, Colin Shelby, and fired a three-run four that went well over center right. With this home run, the Yankees completed a 6-run big inning and won the game 9-2.
This is his first home run in the 2023 season, a home run that came after four demonstration games. Judge is preparing for the season steadily, recording a batting average of 0.500, 4 hits, 1 home run, 3 RBIs, and an OPS of 1.681 in exhibition games.
Last year, Judge had a batting average of 0.311, 62 homers, 131 RBIs, 133 runs, and an OPS of 1.111. After the season ended, he drew attention as the hottest free agent player and presented a super-large contract worth 360 million dollars with the original team Yankees. Along with this, he also gave a great honor of being the first captain after Derek Jeter.
The Yankees hope that he will show a hot hitting feeling this season as well without injury. Judge also gave up participating in the upcoming World Baseball Classic to repay this.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, “It was a good at-bat. All of our players were in good form, but the jersey stood out. He is satisfied,” he applauded.
Domingo Hermann, the starting pitcher on the day, said, “Honestly, it’s become a normal thing for our team now, but it’s really great to see Judge hit like that. It’s very exciting for the fans, and it’s full of adrenaline for Judge.”
Meanwhile, Judge, who played many games in center field last year, is expected to play left field this season. He intends to use Giancarlo Stanton in right field.
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