Aaron Judge Calls Out the 'Little Things' Yankees Failed to Do

Highlights

• Aaron Judge says 2025 was “not a good year” despite his MVP-level play.
  
• He blamed small mistakes and missed opportunities as the difference in October.
  
• Judge admitted early-season losses still “keep him up at night.”
  

As he has done every year of his major league career, Aaron Judge stood in front of reporters after the New York Yankees’ season ended and was direct.

“You play to win,” the captain told reporters. “And when you don’t win, it’s not a good year.”

That assessment came after the Yankees were eliminated by the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Division Series. For all the talent assembled in the Bronx, Judge said the difference came down to execution.

The Little Things Added Up

“It comes down to the little things,” Judge said. “Making the little plays, getting the big hit. If you don’t do that, give teams extra outs, they’re going to capitalize.”

Judge admitted it wasn’t just October that stung. 

April losses, the kind that might seem meaningless at the time, weighed on him as much as the Division Series defeat. “Every game matters,” he said. “I could go through the whole month of April and games that we lost that we shouldn’t have lost. Those are the ones that keep me up at night.”

The Yankees finished April 15–13, a modest record that ultimately shaped their season. They lost five games by one run in the first month, including a late collapse against Toronto on April 25, when Alejandro Kirk’s two-run double in the ninth inning flipped a win into another missed opportunity.

Judge Believed This Team Was Better

The bitterness of those early losses added to Judge’s frustration because he felt this team was built to go further.

 He called the 2025 roster “a complete team … up and down the lineup,” with improved defense and a rotation that blended established arms with younger pitchers finding their stride. In Judge’s view, it was a more balanced group than even the 2024 club that reached the World Series. The result, however, was the same. “We didn’t finish the job,” he said.