Yankees’ Aaron Judge still sees room to improve after big weekend vs. Tigers: ‘Not until I’m hitting 1.000’

NEW YORK — Even after a power-packed performance against one of baseball’s best pitchers, Aaron Judge wasn’t ready to declare himself close to being where he wants at the plate.

The Yankees star had just turned a pair of 97-mph fastballs from the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal into a 399-foot home run and a booming double — both to the opposite field — during Sunday’s 5-2 win over Detroit, capping a productive weekend for the slugger.

“Not until I’m hitting 1.000, then I’ll say we’re getting there,” Judge said afterward, repeating a refrain he offered last week as well.

The humble response followed a three-game sweep of the Tigers in which Judge went 5-for-10 with two RBI, two walks and four runs scored. Even though he was ejected Saturday for the first time in his career, Judge’s weekend represented a stark improvement from last week’s four-game series in Baltimore, where he went 1-for-13 without an RBI or run.

Judge recorded two hits apiece in Saturday and Sunday’s wins, marking his seventh and eighth multi-hit games in what’s been an uneven start to the season.

His seven home runs and 20 RBI both rank second on the Yankees — behind only fellow superstar Juan Soto— but Judge’s .350 on-base percentage, .439 slugging percentage and .789 OPS through 36 games sit well below his career marks.

Judge entered the Tigers series with a .197 average and left it hitting .220, accounting for his highest mark since Opening Day.

“I thought he swung the bat great today,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Sunday. “Last night, after a couple hits, [in] the at-bat he struck out, I thought he got a lot of really good swings off where he looked in control of the at-bat and just happened to miss a pitch. I do feel like he’s looking better to me, but he’s still working to get all the way there.”

Judge’s average exit velocity of 95.2 mph this season remains among the best in baseball and is in line with his career mark of 95.6 mph. However, his hard-hit percentage of 56.2%— or the rate at which his exit velocity reaches at least 95 mph — is down from 61.8% in 2022 and 64.2% last year.

Encouraging indicators from the weekend series include that Judge, the 2022 American League MVP, recorded an exit velocity of at least 104.8 mph on four of his five hits.

He also demonstrated a consistent approach against the five-pitch Skubal, waiting for fastballs over the plate and sending them to right-center field. The righty-hitting Judge was one of few Yankees who had success Sunday against the hard-throwing left-hander, who struck out a career-high 12 and exited with a 1.90 ERA.

“It’s fun going back and forth,” Judge said. “I got him the first time, then he comes back and strikes me out. I was like, ‘Alright, I’ll remember that.’ But it’s impressive, man. It’s fun competing against guys like that.”

Judge, 32, moved to the No. 3 slot in the batting order this season after primarily hitting second throughout his career. He now hits directly behind the lefty-swinging Soto, who leads the Yankees with a .316 average, a .421 on-base percentage and a .559 slugging percentage.

“It was just a tough month for him,” Soto said Sunday of Judge. “I feel like he’s doing his stuff right and he’s going to be great. I’m not even worried about Judge. I’ve always been happy hitting in front of him and I know what kind of hitter he is.”

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