Angels manager Ron Washington says it’s better to walk ‘bad boy’ Aaron Judge than ‘let him beat up on us’

Aaron Judge’s monstrous 2024 season keeps rival teams on their toes as the Angels take an intentional walk into consideration.

Angels manager Ron Washington says it’s better to walk ‘bad boy’ Aaron Judge than ‘let him beat up on us’

Ron Washington and Aaron Judge [Image Credit: KWTX/Imago]

New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge’s dominance in the 2024 season keeps rival teams on their toes. He is currently leading the majors with 41 home runs, 121 runs batted in RBIs, with a .322 batting average. 

In their latest faceoff against the Los Angeles Angels, manager Ron Washington spoke about the possibility of intentionally walking Judge after the Blue Jays did the same last Sunday. Blue Jays walking off Aaron Judge created a buzz in the MLB community as groups divided in talks about the captain’s performance and the Blue Jays decision.

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The topic once again got recalled in the latest Yankees vs. Angles faceoff where the latter won against the pinstripes with a 8-2 result. When asked about the intentional walk, Washington said he would do that with no one on base but would do it if the situation called for it.

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I would be a fool to just let him beat up on us…It’s no disrespect to anyone. You gotta do what you gotta do. I mean, he’s a bad boy. You just can’t come into this ballpark and let him beat up on you if you don’t have to.
Ron Washington as per Jorge Castillo on X.

The Yankees are back from their slump days following their trade of Jazz Chisholm Jr.  While the team indeed was deep in the waters in July, the addition of the 26-year-old added power to their offensive strength, boosting the team to their first AL East position. 

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Blue Jays manager John Schneider on intentionally walking Aaron Judge

Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider spoke on SiriusXM about intentionally walking Aaron Judge during their last week’s game. He highly complimented the 32-year-old captain saying “Whenever Aaron Judge is putting the bat on the ball, it’s a home run.”

John Schneider and Aaron Judge [Image Credit: Trentonian/Imago]
John Schneider and Aaron Judge [Image Credit: Trentonian/Imago]

So, to avoid a run they chose to intentionally walk off the player during last week Sunday’s game. He further said that he “didn’t feel like seeing him swing.” He admitted that Judge is in a “different category” and they would like to avoid any HRs if possible.

If there’s a chance where we can avoid a run, or a couple of runs with one swing, we’re going to do it…He’s in a different category, I think, than anyone else in the league. He can flip the script of a game with one swing.
John Schneider on X.

After Sunday’s game, he became the first player in the past 50 seasons to get intentionally walked with empty bases in the first two innings of a game. After this game, many started comparing him to Barry Bonds. It seems like Aaron Judge has no intention of slowing down anytime soon, especially as the team finally got its boosted start to the season.

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