Big boys mashing taters: It's what we all want to see. That's why we're proud to bring you a special playoff edition of Big Boy Watch, highlighting the beefers, hulks, and galoots from around the league. Philadelphia's burly lads aren't bashing, and it's causing a civic crisis. Milwaukee-Chicago is a fairly boring series because of—as experts will tell you—a distinct dearth of large fellas. Cal Raleigh, he of the ass, went yard, and the Mariners are on the verge of the ALCS. Coincidence? The ass thinks not.
But two of the Biggest Boys were in the Bronx Tuesday night, with the Blue Jays looking to close out a three-game sweep of the Yankees. They both put on a big show, as New York would stave off elimination for a day thanks to one of the least likely home run swings you'll ever see.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., born into bulk, is having the best stretch of his career at the plate. After three playoff games, he's batting .615, has homered in every game, and sports a cartoonish 1.908 OPS. He's tormenting the Yankees, and relishing it. He's declined to say anything this week that could serve as bulletin-board material, claiming, "I bring the same energy every game, regardless of who I'm playing." But here's a guy who three years ago declared "I like to kill the Yankees." He doesn't need to say it to get it across; he's letting his bat and his body language speak for him. Bat flips and pimp jobs followed his Game 1 table-setter and his Game 2 grand slam, and in the first inning of Game 3, a towering shot to left-center warranted the shush.
It sure looked like an early bedtime for the Yankees, as their 2-0 hole grew to 6-1 by the third. But they had a big boy of their own.
Aaron Judge has a reputation. It's not an entirely fair one, but the Yankees haven't won a championship in his seven previous postseasons, and his playoff numbers are worse than his regular-season stats. Not all that much worse, but what he's really lacking are playoff moments. Tuesday was a moment.
After scoring the Yankees' first run, Judge doubled home the second in the bottom of the third. By the time he came up again in the fourth, it was 6-3, and there were two men on, thanks to Addison Barger dropping a pop-up. Louis Varland went knuckle-curve away, fastball up, to get Judge to 0-2. Then he threw what was, what should have been, what would have been against anyone else a purposeful wasted pitch inside, to keep Judge honest and make him think twice about diving out over the plate.
There's something pleasant about the immediate catharsis of a homer off the foul pole. When one goes down the line like that, you kind of expect that you're not going to know right away if it's fair or foul—the camera angle is tough, and the umps might even need to review it. But the violent ricochet removes all doubt.
Still, I need to go back to the pitch. Who hits this?
It was, according to Statcast, 99.7 mph and 1.2 feet off the center of the plate. Unsurprisingly, no one's ever homered off a pitch like that in the pitch-tracking era, since 2008. "I don't know," Judge answered when asked why he swung at a ball that far out of the zone. "It looked good to me."
So, don't look now, but Judge is hitting .500 with an OPS of 1.304 this postseason. They're not Vladito numbers, but what are? Judge also now has six career home runs in games facing elimination, tied for most in MLB history. Yes, there are more playoff rounds now, and yes, the Yankees get eliminated from the playoffs a lot. But he's pulling his weight.
Now, after closing out a 9-6 win, the Yankees are facing the prospect of a Game 4 bullpen game from the Jays while they start young fireballer Cam Schlittler. A series that kicked off the night looking for all the world like a frictionless sweep suddenly feels unsettled. It's gonna take a big man to settle it—or a big boy.
