Aaron Judge Faces Critical Test in Game 1 Against Garrett Crochet, Red Sox

While Aaron Judge has likely locked in the American League MVP over Cal Raleigh, his legacy is on the line beginning Tuesday.

Judge has gone just 3-for-15 against Crochet this season, albeit with two home runs. One of those was a mammoth, game-tying home run at Fenway Park as Crochet attempted to polish off a complete-game shutout against New York on June 13th. That was not enough, as the Yankees lost 2-1 in 10 innings.

Of those 12 at-bats that didn't end in a hit, 10 of them ended in a strikeout against the likely Cy Young finalist.

A Legacy on the Line

After he mostly failed to rise to his superhuman expectations last postseason, Judge now stands as the Yankee with the most to lose if his team can't make it back to the Fall Classic.

In his first ever World Series, Judge went 4-for-18 with a double and a home run, both of which came in the Yankees' embarrassing loss to the Dodgers in Game 5, where Judge blundered an easy fly ball in the Dodgers' pivotal fifth-inning rally off Gerrit Cole.

With the Yankees missing the AL East crown and No. 1 seed by one game, Judge now has to shoulder much of the offensive burden. Or, that's the expectation.

General manager Brian Cashman did a superb job at surrounding the Yankees captain with a less one-dimensional lineup than last fall. Ben Rice, Trent Grisham, Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger can all pick up the slack in critical situations. That will not, however, absolve Judge of any blame if the Yankees fail to make it to the heights they feel they can achieve.

Judge making an impact Tuesday night against Crochet would be a big start. Crochet has exploited just about all of Judge's weaknesses, and is one of the few pitchers in baseball with elite stuff and enough guts to blow fastballs by Judge night after night. The captain can surely expect a steady diet of high heat against the lefty Tuesday.

The gameplan, and the expectation is clear. Judge has generally failed to rise to the sky-high bar he's set for himself in October. Things can change, however, on any given Tuesday.