Sports
Breaking down Aaron Judge’s early playoff performance: A productive start or another October disappointment?
In case you hadn’t heard, Aaron Judge entered the 2025 MLB playoffs with a checkered history of October results compared with his stellar regular-season résumé.
For his career, Judge’s OPS is 250 points lower in the postseason than in the regular season (the average regular-season-to-playoff OPS dropoff for hitters in 2024 was 18 points), and his struggles on the biggest stage have become a talking point nearly every October.
After his .184/.344/.408 slash line during the Yankees’ 2024 postseason run, Judge is hitting objectively well in the playoffs this year — posting a 1.024 OPS and collecting an MLB-leading eight hits in his first five games. But he isn’t hitting for much power, with just one extra-base hit (a double) in 21 plate appearances, and his team enters Game 3 of the American League Division Series on the brink of elimination.
As the Yankees try to battle back against the Toronto Blue Jays, we dug deep into each of Judge’s first 18 at-bats (and three walks) to see what we can learn about his October so far.
How is Judge being pitched in the playoffs? Is it different from the regular season? Why isn’t he hitting for power? Is it bad luck? And where could his postseason go from here — if the Yankees can stick around long enough for him to find his home run stroke?
How left-handed pitchers are approaching Judge
Judge vs. lefties in playoff career: 42 PA, .400/.500/.714, 19% K, 17% BB, 3 HR
Judge vs. lefties this postseason: 8 PA, .500/.500/1.125, 13% K, 0% BB, 0 HR
Each pitcher has different strengths, but there are some clear trends that lefties are following when attacking Judge this month.
The game plan goes something like this: throw hard stuff (four-seam fastballs, sinkers, cutters) on his hands, largely down, then mix in softer stuff to keep him honest, locating those pitches down and on the corners — where he is least likely to do damage. If you miss, miss outside of the zone, not toward the middle. Don’t be afraid to nibble around the outside of the zone and live to fight another day.
That’s a solid plan against almost any hitter, but in this case, it means going hard inside against a 6-foot-7 slugger whose relative weaknesses will always include covering the plate against good stuff.
It’s telling that the two softer-throwing lefties Judge faced (Boston’s Connelly Early and Toronto’s Justin Bruihl) threw two fastballs out of their 10 total pitches and both missed off the plate inside, one missing so far inside that it hit Judge. Garrett Crochet, Aroldis Chapman, and Brendon Little were much more aggressive, likely because of their better fastballs.
How right-handed pitchers are approaching Judge
Judge vs. righties in playoff career: 241 PA, .192/.304/.409, 34% K, 13% BB, 13 HR
Judge vs. righties this postseason: 13 PA, .400/.538/.400, 23% K, 15% BB, 0 HR
Judge has faced eight different righties this postseason, and those pitchers vary vastly in their pitch mix and the quality of their stuff, but right-handed pitchers seem to be using a decision tree to craft their game plan against him.
If the righty’s top offspeed pitch is a breaking ball (slider, sweeper, curve) then he is throwing that as often as he can while locating it down and away — and mixing it with fastballs inside to keep Judge from leaning over the plate. Here’s a look at Judge vs. breaking balls only.
If the righty’s top secondary pitch is a splitter — such as Toronto’s Kevin Gausman and Trey Yesavage in the first two games of the ALDS — then he is mixing splitters and sliders away with some fastballs that are mostly targeted inside.
But no matter their style, one common goal for all of these pitchers is not to make a mistake over the plate!
How does Judge’s regular-season history factor into this plan?
Though Judge’s October struggles have become a narrative over his career, any team setting up its pitching strategy for a series will game plan for the two-time American League MVP with a career 1.028 OPS and 368 home runs rather than treating him like the player with a .223 average and .787 OPS in 63 career playoff games.
And that starts with keeping the ball away from where Judge can do the most damage.
During the 2025 regular season, Judge faced 176 pitches (essentially one pitch every four plate appearances) that qualified as in the middle-middle zone — or, in more general speak, right down the middle.
Against those pitches, Judge had a 1.630 OPS and 15 homers, both figures were second best in baseball.
This is where Judge ranked, among all qualified hitters in MLB this season, measured by xwOBA:
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Second best vs. middle-middle pitches
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Best vs. pitches in the heart of the zone (a larger part of the strike zone than middle-middle)
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Best per pitch vs. fastballs, second in overall value
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Best per pitch and overall vs. sinkers
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Best per pitch and overall vs. cutters
Imagine getting this scouting report as a pitcher before you face Judge in a playoff game. I wouldn’t throw him anything down the middle, either.
How Judge is handling pitches he should crush
Now for the twist: Judge has faced seven pitches in the playoffs that were in the middle-middle zone (one pitch every three plate appearances, so slightly more frequently than the regular season).
So far this postseason, Judge hasn’t put one of those pitches in play. He swung at five — fouled off four and whiffed at another — and took two middle-middle pitches for strikes.
This isn’t a trend I tried to identify in my research because the small sample means one home run on a center-cut ball would poke a hole in it, but in watching all of his playoff at-bats, I made too many of this sort of note: “target was [zone direction] corner, missed target to the middle of the zone, [nothing bad happened to the pitcher].”
So, yes, it’s a small sample, but October baseball is won and lost on small samples. Judge is getting pitched roughly how he was in the regular season (actually even a bit more hitter-friendly), but he hasn’t replicated his regular-season damage, especially when it comes to punishing mistakes thrown down the middle. Judge has performed basically the same (chase rate, xwOBA, etc.) as the regular season against noncenter-cut pitches, so not taking advantage of these mistakes is accounting for his dip in power in the playoffs this year.
Over 162 games, anyone putting up an OPS over 1.000 is having a very productive season — even if it’s all coming from singles and a few doubles — but the heat has been turned up with the Yankees facing elimination, and the offense needs to deliver, with Judge at the heart of it. This team needs Judge to punish mistakes and create some souvenirs or he is at risk of having another October disappointment added to his résumé.
Play at the India Open badminton tournament was halted twice on Thursday after bird droppings were spotted on Court 1 during Indian HS Prannoy’s match against Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew, Indian media reported.
The incident kept the spotlight on conditions at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium for a third straight day and added to questions over the venue’s preparedness for the World Championships in August.
Play was first stopped in the opening game when officials rushed in with tissues to clean the floor, and was halted again in the third after fresh droppings were spotted.
“I think it was bird poop,” Prannoy said after the match.
The disruption followed other incidents reported at the venue in recent days, including birds flying around on the practice courts and a monkey being seen in the stands.
While the Badminton Association of India (BAI) has defended the conditions and arrangements so far, Indian media said Thursday’s episode adds to a growing list of embarrassments for organisers and points of review for the Badminton World Federation (BWF), which is monitoring the venue.
Players have also raised concerns over the city’s pollution and weather conditions, with Loh adding to the issues flagged during the tournament.
Earlier this week, Danish player Blichfeldt raised concerns about what she described as “dirty and unhealthy” conditions, calling on the BWF to intervene, a significant allegation given the same venue will host the World Championships scheduled to be held in August, with India set to host the global showpiece for the first time in 16 years.
Last year’s India Open was held at the smaller KD Jadhav Arena before being moved this season to the larger Indira Gandhi Stadium, while training sessions continue to take place at the KD Jadhav Stadium located around 250-300 metres from the main arena.
Blichfeldt had reiterated her concerns this week, specifically referring to the warm-up halls, saying players were forced to wear multiple layers due to cold conditions and describing the environment as unfit for elite preparation.
She also raised health concerns after claiming to have seen birds inside the warm-up area, including instances of droppings on court surfaces.
“That’s clearly unhealthy and not normal,” she said, adding that falling sick or getting injured due to such conditions would be unfair to players.
While acknowledging organisers’ efforts, she maintained improvements were still needed and urged tournament authorities and the BWF to ensure professional standards are met.
Sports
State Department lists major sporting events in addition to World Cup, Olympics exempt from Trump’s visa ban
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The Trump administration has revealed various “major sporting events” in addition to the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games in which athletes and coaches will be exempt from a broad visa ban on nearly 40 countries, allowing them to travel to the U.S. to compete.
In a cable sent Wednesday to all U.S. embassies and consulates, the State Department said athletes, coaches and support staff for the World Cup, the Olympics and events endorsed or run by a lengthy list of collegiate and professional sporting leagues and associations would be excluded from the full and partial travel bans subject to citizens of 39 countries and the Palestinian Authority.
But foreign spectators, media and corporate sponsors who wish to attend the events would still be impacted by the ban unless they qualify for another exemption.
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The Trump administration has revealed the “major sporting events” in addition to the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games in which athletes and coaches will be exempt from a broad visa ban. (Brad Smith/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
“Only a small subset of travelers for the World Cup, Olympics and Paralympics, and other major sporting events will qualify for the exception,” the message said.
The federal government has issued several immigration and travel bans as well as other visa restrictions as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to curb immigration, although the administration still wants athletes, coaches and fans to be able to attend major sporting events in the U.S.
Trump’s proclamation last month banning the issuance of visas to the 39 countries and the Palestinian Authority had included an exception for athletes and staff competing in some sporting events such as the World Cup and the Olympics, and a decision on the other sporting events that would be covered would be made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
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Foreign spectators, media and corporate sponsors who wish to attend the events would still be impacted by the ban unless they qualify for another exemption. (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
The events covered, according to the cable, include all competitions and qualifying events for the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Pan American Games and Parapan American Games; events hosted, sanctioned or recognized by a U.S. National Governing Body; all competitions and qualifying events for the Special Olympics; and official events and competitions hosted or endorsed by FIFA or its confederations.
Official events and competitions hosted by the International Military Sports Council, the International University Sports Federation and the National Collegiate Athletic Association as well as those hosted or endorsed by U.S. professional sports leagues such as the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and Women’s National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and Little League, National Hockey League, Professional Women’s Hockey League, NASCAR, Formula 1, the Professional Golf Association, Ladies Professional Golf Association, LIV Golf, Major League Rugby, Major League Soccer, World Wrestling Entertainment, Ultimate Fighting Championship and All Elite Wrestling are also covered under the exemption.
Other events and leagues could be added to the list in the future, the cable said.
Other events and leagues could be added to the list in the future. (Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images)
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Under the new visa restrictions, a full travel ban covers citizens of Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Myanmar, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Yemen and individuals holding Palestinian Authority–issued passports.
A partial ban applies to citizens of Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Cuba, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mauritania, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Togo, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Former Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros star outfielder Kyle Tucker has agreed to a $240 million, four-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, per multiple reports.
Tucker’s $60 million average annual value would be the second-highest in baseball history, not factoring discounting, behind Shohei Ohtani’s $70 million in his 10-year deal with the Dodgers that runs through 2033.
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Kyle Tucker #30 of the Houston Astros runs to third base during the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on September 28, 2024, in Cleveland, Ohio. (Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)
When healthy, Tucker is among the best all-around players in the majors. But the outfielder has played in just 214 regular-season games over the past two years.
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Jeremy Pena #3, Kyle Tucker #30, and Alex Bregman #2 of the Houston Astros celebrate after Tucker hit a home run in the third inning against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game One of the 2022 World Series at Minute Maid Park on October 28, 2022, in Houston, Texas. (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
He batted .266 with 22 homers and 73 RBIs with the Chicago Cubs last season. He was acquired in a blockbuster trade with Houston in December 2024 that moved slugging prospect Cam Smith to the Astros.
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Kyle Tucker #30 of the Chicago Cubs swings the bat in the third inning during game five of the National League Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field on October 11, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Brandon Sloter/Chicago Cubs/Getty Images)
Tucker was slowed by a pair of injuries in his lone season with the Cubs. He sustained a small fracture in his right hand on an awkward slide against Cincinnati on June 1. He also strained his left calf against Atlanta on Sept. 2.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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