Aaron Judge’s commitment to the stars and stripes isn’t stressing out his Yankees manager.
Aaron Boone says it feels like the “right thing” for Judge to be the captain of Team USA at the World Baseball Classic — a global tournament that will pull the three-time American League MVP out of Yankees spring training.
“Of course, I’ll want to make sure everything goes smooth and we avoid certain things, but I think he’ll be ready to go do it,” Boone said on Monday night’s episode of YES Network’s “Hot Stove” show. “I’m excited for him to play in this kind of environment.”
This is Judge’s first time participating in the WBC. He sat out of the 2023 edition after signing a nine-year, $360 million contract a few months earlier, an offseason in which was named the Yankees’ captain.
Now, Judge headlines a star-powered American lineup that also includes Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Gunnar Henderson and Bobby Witt Jr.
Judge won his second consecutive AL MVP last season after leading the majors with a .331 average and a 1.144 OPS to go with 53 home runs and 114 RBI.
“Any time you’re playing high-stakes baseball that early in the year, there’s a little bit of concern, but it’s become a big part of our sport, and you understand that,” Boone said. “All we can do is try and make sure we’re helping these guys put themselves in the best position to go out and there to do it safely and to be healthy doing it.”
Team USA won the WBC in 2017, but it lost to Team Japan in 2023’s instant-class final game.
That 2023 tournament generated tremendous international excitement, with superstars such as Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto competing for Japan; Francisco Lindor captaining Puerto Rico; and Juan Soto leading the Dominican Republic.
Ohtani and Lindor are among the big-name stars who have committed to compete in this year’s event.
But the WBC — which is scheduled to take place from March 5-17 this year — comes with risk. During the 2023 tournament, then-Mets closer Edwin Diaz suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Team USA has never had trouble assembling a potent batting order, but front-line pitchers have often been reluctant to participate.
That’s not the case this year, as the Team USA rotation includes Tarik Skubal, Paul Skenes and Joe Ryan, as well as Nolan McLean and Clay Holmes of the Mets.
Yankees ace Max Fried declined an invitation, but teammate David Bednar is committed to pitch out of the Team USA bullpen.
“There are certain times that come up, certain situations, especially with certain pitchers and things, that you want them to avoid this kind of thing, but also you realize the value it can provide for these guys to really compete at this level,” Boone said.
“In some cases, even some of our pitchers, it forces them into having a better offseason ramp-up to get ready for this, and hopefully that’s something that serves them well moving forward. For the pitchers, sometimes you get a little bit worried about it. Position players, not as much.”
