Judge's ABs getting special treatment on ESPN remarkably unproductive

New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge. Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Aaron Judge's at-bats getting special treatment from ESPN have been remarkably unproductive

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated 10/1/22

Aaron Judge has been the subject of widespread interest from around the world of sports for the better part of the last week. Some of that attention has not exactly been by choice.

For the second consecutive Saturday, ESPN broke into its college football coverage to show Judge’s plate appearances as he tries to break Roger Maris’ AL record for single-season home runs. Last Saturday, Judge was trying to tie the record of 61, while this Saturday saw him attempting to surpass it with his 62nd.

Most college football fans have been highly critical of ESPN for cutting in, especially during important games. The criticism only worsened as Judge failed to do much of anything during any of the live plate appearances.

How bad has it been? Chris Vannini of The Athletic did the math on the plate appearances that have interrupted ESPN’s coverage. Judge has just one hit in 7 at-bats, with five strikeouts. He has also walked five times and been hit by a pitch.

Aaron Judge during college football cut-ins (Sat, Fri, Sat):

1-for-7, 5 walks, 1 HBP, 5 Ks, 1 run

— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) October 1, 2022

In other words, ESPN has been breaking in to its college football telecasts to show an awful lot of strikeouts and walks and very little contact.

This isn’t really Judge’s fault. He can’t control how he is pitched, and teams have been understandably reluctant to come after him aggressively, leaving him with little to hit. ESPN’s coverage is not exactly doing anything to make people want to root for him, though. It’s so bad that even ESPN announcers can’t help but chime in on the interruptions.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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