Blue Jays notes: Trying to stop Aaron Judge, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stays hot, more

NEW YORK — How do you stop Aaron Judge?

It’s a question currently puzzling the Toronto Blue Jays, who fell 8-3 to the New York Yankees on Saturday afternoon.

The Yankees slugger has four hits in two games against the Blue Jays, including two home runs. Judge is hitting .321/.452/.702 on the season and his 41 home runs and 103 RBIs lead the majors by a wide margin. Blue Jays manager John Schneider called Judge’s level of production “comical.”

The Blue Jays manager was asked, when game planning for Judge, why it wasn’t as simple as intentionally walking Judge every time he steps to the plate. Schneider said the Blue Jays actually considered intentionally walking Judge twice on Friday, in the first inning, with the club leading 3-0, before he hit a two-run home run and in the seventh inning when he led off the inning and ended up striking out against Brendon Little.

“You definitely want to pick and choose your spots,” Schneider said. “It’s tempting, for sure. You just put up four fingers. But there’s still major league hitters behind him and we still got major league pitchers on the mound, so the score dictates a lot.”

The Blue Jays again chose to pitch to Judge in the first inning with a man on base and the 32-year-old punished them for it, hitting the first of three home runs allowed by Toronto starter José Berríos to make it 2-1 for the Yankees.

In the second inning, Judge came up to the plate with two out and no one on base, and the Blue Jays made the curious choice to intentionally walk him then. Why?

“I honestly didn’t feel like seeing him swing. That was kind of it,” Schneider said with a chuckle. “We talk about being really careful with him and I think that’s what can lead to mistakes when you’re really trying to be very fine and at that point, it’s 4-1. He’s in a different category, I think, than anyone else in the league to where he can just flip the script of a game with one swing. Obviously, he’s done it twice in this series, so didn’t really feel like watching him swing.”

Berríos said he was surprised they called for the intentional walk at that moment but understood why.

“We know he’s the hottest hitter right now in the big leagues — him and Vladdy,” Berríos said.

Meanwhile, like Judge, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. continued his own sensational recent pace, going 3-for-4, with a home run in the first inning, to extend his hit streak to a season-long 16 games. During that stretch, Guerrero has hit .525/.586/.1.136 with nine home runs, nine doubles and 18 RBIs. After the game, he said he was playing with confidence.

“At the end of the day, it’s all confidence. Of course, you’ve got to believe in your talent, but confidence — I mean, if I feel like I have my confidence 100 percent, I know I’m gonna be OK,” Guerrero said through interpreter Hector Lebron.

Is 9 homers in 16 games good? 💥#PLAKATA pic.twitter.com/VOOrTm9Gv0

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) August 3, 2024

After Guerrero had only five home runs at the end of May, there were questions regarding where the first baseman’s power went and whether he would even reach 20 home runs by the end of the season. Now, he’s up to 22 home runs and looks on track to hit 30 or more at this rate.

“He has goals that he sets for himself every single year, obviously, for the team and for himself,” Schneider said. “And I think if he just goes out and does what he’s doing, the last month or so, he’ll probably reach those individually, albeit not what the team wanted to do. It’s fun to watch him right now.”

Schneider was busy managing the Blue Jays game on Friday night when recently traded left-hander Yusei Kikuchi was making his anticipated debut with the Houston Astros, but the Blue Jays skipper did happen to catch some highlights of Kikuchi’s outing, in which he struck out 11 across 5 2/3 innings against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Watching the former Blue Jays starter who was dealt for three prospects was “bittersweet,” Schneider said, but he was “happy for Yusei to get off on a good note over there.”

Kikuchi was one of the top starters dealt at the trade deadline earlier this week and he arrived in Houston tasked with helping stabilize the Astros’ rotation. As The Athletic’s Chandler Rome wrote, Kikuchi entered a pressure-packed situation after the public perception of the trade was painted as an overpay by the Astros, who shipped three top-20 prospects to Toronto, including MLB-ready outfielder Joey Loperfido.

After a wobbly first inning in which Kikuchi gave up a two-run home run, the left-hander locked it in and went on to strike out eight batters in a row at one point, matching an Astros record, and finished with a career-high 26 whiffs.

“He was a big name being thrown out there and to go out there and have a good first one in your home ballpark is pretty cool,” Schneider said. “And knowing him, he probably was really amped up, a little bit of anxiety because he cares so much, but thrilled for him.”

Elsewhere, other Blue Jays who were traded away are impacting their new teams. Justin Turner hit a grand slam for the Seattle Mariners on Friday, helping them to a 10-2 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies, while Yimi García has pitched three scoreless innings for the club. Danny Jansen has gone 4-for-7 in two games with the Boston Red Sox, while Trevor Richards pitched a scoreless inning for the Minnesota Twins.

Blue Jays 2024 draft update

The Blue Jays signed 19 players selected in the 2024 MLB draft, as well as 11 non-drafted free agents, including first-round pick right-handed pitcher Trey Yesavage, who signed a slightly above-slot bonus of $4.1775 million, according to a report from Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.

On a video conference call on Saturday, Blue Jays amateur scouting director Shane Farrell said the club is excited about the incoming draft class because they were able to acquire “a lot of player development traits that we’re valuing” including size, physicality, fastball shape and strike-throwing ability.

After the draftees sign with the club, they’re onboarded into the organization during a 10-day to two-week post-draft camp at the club’s player development complex in Dunedin, Fla. There, the Blue Jays player development staff get to know the new players, both on and off the field, and introduce them “to what it means to be a Blue Jay and getting their professional career started,” Farrell said.

From there, some of the draft picks may get assigned to affiliate teams for the remainder of the season, however, Farrell identified Yesavage and second-round pick (59th overall) Khal Stephen as two pitchers who may not be sent to an affiliate due to the number of innings they threw in this year’s college season. Yesavage threw 93 1/3 innings for East Carolina University, while Stephen threw 96 innings for Mississippi State.

“I wouldn’t expect them to rush to an affiliate and pitch much this season, if at all. I think the important thing is getting a better understanding of who they are, their work ethic and things like that,” Farrell said.

(Top photo of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: Adam Hunger/Getty Images)