With the Red Sox ready to run on Aaron Judge on Tuesday, Nick Sogard executed their plan to perfection in the seventh inning of Boston’s 3-1 win over the Yankees in the Bronx.
With the Bombers, now facing elimination, up 1-0 in the seventh inning and a man on first with one out, Sogard slapped a single to right-center field. Judge took his time fielding the ball and getting it in, allowing the speedy Sogard to hustle into second base for a double. It didn’t help that Judge threw a 73.2-mph one-hopper into second.
Sogard went on to score on a two-run single from Masataka Yoshida.
“No. He’s quick,” Judge said when asked if Sogard took him by surprise. “Hits it in the gap, splits me and [Trent Grisham]. Not surprised at all.”
Aaron Boone added that he didn’t think Sogard caught Judge napping, but there was still the matter of the right fielder’s weak throw.
“Yeah, I’m trying to get it in there and make a play,” Judge said when asked if that’s the hardest he can fire. “Definitely don’t want to overthrow. But he’s quick. Got in there. Just trying to make a play.”
“I think it was just controlling the one hop on it,” Boone chimed in.
73.2 mph on this throw from Judge on the Sogard double. Arm definitely still an issue. That extra base allows Sogard to score on the Yoshida single.
Grisham probably has to call off/cut off Judge here? Healthy Judge nails Sogard at second. Sox tested Judge’s arm and it worked. pic.twitter.com/KPmhc5cgux
— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) October 1, 2025
Sogard had a different take on the play.
“It kind of took a while to field it,” he said, per MassLive’s Christopher Smith. “And Judge fielded it moving away from second base, and I just tried to challenge the arm in that spot.”
When Judge’s arm is at full strength, it is a deterrent, as he is capable of topping 90 mph. But, as everyone knows, Judge’s arm has not been at full strength since he returned from a right flexor strain in early August.
Everyone includes the Red Sox, who entered the best-of-three Wild Card Series intent on testing the Yankees’ captain.
“That’s preparation,” Red Sox skipper Alex Cora said of Sogard’s double. “We talk about their outfielders and what can we do or what we cannot do, and he saw it right away and took advantage of it.”
Alex Bregman and Trevor Story also talked about the Red Sox preparing for such an “aggressive” play.
“He is one of the best outfielders in baseball offensively and defensively,” Bregman said of Judge. “I feel like you kind of just have to play the game with feel for the situation, timing of the game, outs, situation, when to be aggressive, when not to be aggressive, kind of just trust your instincts.”
Judge, vying for another MVP Award, did make an 85.8-mph throw against the White Sox last week, but it’s been rare to see him approach such velocity since he returned to the outfield on Sept. 5 against the Blue Jays, a game in which the Yankees were hurt by his still-recovering arm, though they pretended that wasn’t the case.
Judge was restricted to DH duties prior to that, forcing Giancarlo Stanton to play the outfield for the first time since 2023. However, Judge has better range than Stanton, who comes with his own injury risks. The latter hasn’t played the field since Sept. 14.
Tasked with throwing for the first time back in right field, Aaron Judge flipped a short toss to Jazz Chisholm Jr. when there was a shot to get Daulton Varsho at the plate. #Yankees pic.twitter.com/Zr2FP4p7GW
— Gary Phillips (@GaryHPhillips) September 5, 2025
When asked about Judge being able to unleash his arm’s full velocity in the postseason on Sept. 20, Boone said, “We’ll see” while stating that he thinks the slugger’s strength has improved.
“I gotta get back the accuracy a little bit, but that’ll come,” Judge said a few days later after that previously mentioned 85.8-mph throw sailed high into second base. “I don’t like airmailing balls like that, but I feel good.”
Back on Aug. 19, Boone told WFAN that he didn’t think Judge would throw “normally” for the rest of the season. However, he walked that back when he spoke to reporters later that day, calling his radio comment overstated.
Minutes later, Judge, never eager to discuss his injuries and still working through a throwing program at the time, took issue with Boone’s WFAN quote.
“I don’t know why he said that,” Judge said. “He hasn’t seen me throw for the past two weeks, so I’m pretty confident I’ll get back to [100 percent].”
