Aaron Judge’s Hitting Coach Slams Yankees; Aaron Boone Responds

Aaron Judge’s Hitting Coach Slams Yankees; Aaron Boone Responds

July 5, 2024 / Kevin harson /


Things are not going great for the New York Yankees right now.

More news: MLB Power Rankings: Yankees Plummet, Orioles Climb, Rangers Continue Free Fall

The Yankees have lost 13 of their last 18 games and have gone from first place in the American League East to two games behind the now first-place Baltimore Orioles.

Aaron Judge and Juan Soto are having MVP-caliber seasons, but aside from them, the Yankees’ offense has been a big struggle.

More news: Yankees’ Chances of Signing Juan Soto to Midseason Extension Appear to Have Taken a Hit

Anthony Volpe had a great start to the year but has struggled mightily since. No one else in the lineup has made a great impact.

The Yankees’ offensive struggles have been so bad that Judge’s personal hitting coach, Richard Schenck, took to X/Twitter to call out the team’s offensive player development.

Commenting on a post from the YES Network that displayed Judge’s statistics in Yankees’ wins versus Yankees’ losses, Schenck had this to say:

“They’ve lost 13 out of 18 while he’s hitting like an MVP. The Yankees offensive player development is terrible.”

This post got tons of traction and even made its way to Yankees manager Aaron Boone. On Friday, ahead of the Yankees’ series opener against the rival Boston Red Sox, Boone was asked about this comment from Schenck.

“Everyone is entitled to their opinions,” Boone said to reporters. “People are going to take their shots. You can’t get all consumed with that stuff.”

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – APRIL 29: Manager Aaron Boone #1 and Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees talk during batting practice prior to a game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden…


Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

Judge is in the midst of an incredibly dominant first half. Judge is slashing .314/.433/.702 with 32 home runs, 83 runs batted in, 23 doubles, and an OPS of 1.135. He leads the majors in home runs, RBIs, slugging percentage, OPS, and OPS+ (215), while placing second in fWAR (6.0) behind Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson (6.2). He won the fan vote to earn a starting All-Star Game nod and passed Babe Ruth for the most home runs by a Yankees player before July in franchise history.

Read more: Aaron Judge Passes Babe Ruth For Yankees Record Amid Historic Season

Judge is not only far from the problem for the Yankees, but he’s one of the main reasons they’ve even been this good this season. The Yankees probably don’t want to imagine where they’d be without him.

Still, despite his dominance, the Yankees are struggling and stuck searching for answers. Ben Rice, who was called up a few weeks ago to replace Anthony Rizzo, has been moved to the leadoff spot for the last two games. Volpe has dropped to the bottom of the order as Boone and the Yankees look for anything to get their season back on track.