Yankees need Aaron Judge to return to form to advance

Aaron Judge's postseason struggles continued on Monday night.

The New York Yankees outfielder had his chances. Royals pitcher Cole Ragans walked the first two batters he faced, bringing Judge to the plate in the first inning. Judge, however, struck out as the Yankees squandered a prime opportunity. He ended the night 1-for-3 with an infield single, a walk and a strikeout in the Yankees' 4-2 loss.

These playoff struggles are nothing new. Judge entered Monday with a .206/.307/.451 batting line in his 203 postseason plate appearances, hitting 13 homers, but striking out 69 times. He briefly had the worst strikeout rate in postseason history for anyone with at least 200 plate appearances. 

Judge said that he blames himself for the Yankees' playoff woes and inability to bring home a title. He may be putting too much pressure on himself to bring a championship to New York; his struggles are feeding into themselves.

Judge had another stellar showing in the regular season this year. He posted a .322/.458/.701 batting line in his 704 plate appearances, belting 58 homers and 36 doubles. Judge led the majors in homers, on-base percentage, slugging, RBI (144), OPS (1.159), walks (133) and bWAR (10.8). He is the prohibitive favorite to win his second AL MVP award for his regular-season performance.

But his regular-season performance no longer matters. More than any other team, Yankees legends are made in October. Judge may be on a Hall of Fame path, and his No. 99 will likely be retired, but that would all ring hollow without a title. 

However, a championship is not likely to happen unless Judge can tap into his regular season form once the calendar flips to October. The Yankees need him to snap out of his postseason slump in order to win a World Series.