For Judge, well, it was the first time it had happened in about two minutes, and his ball was a mammoth shot to center field that was a no-doubter off the bat.
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And the Baby Bombers did it back-to-back in a five-pitch span against Tampa Bay.
“That thing was a hit a ton”, an awe-struck Austin said Saturday an 8-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankees officially released Rodriguez on Saturday afternoon, ending his 12 years in pinstripes and perhaps his big league career after 22 seasons.
And it arrived on, coincidentally, a special occasion. “I think Austin will play some because (the retiring Mark Teixeira) is still active”. Austin is likely stuck at first base, though he has played corner outfield in the minors.
Judge-Austin seemed to be the Bleacher Creatures’ new favorites, not some jurisprudence reference. After a breakout 2012 in which he slashed.322/.400/.559 with 17 home runs, 80 RBI and 23 stolen bases, Austin flew up the Yankees prospect charts.
“Judge, at 6’7”, won’t be hard to find in right field. “I think that would be a record”, Girardi said, laughing. They made their presence felt immidiately, both hitting home runs in their first major league at-bats. The 24-year-old is hitting.323/.415/.637 with 13 home runs and 49 RBIs and is expected to compete for playing time in rightfield moving forward.
It’s indeed a new day for the Yankees.
Judge was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and is in the lineup Saturday against the Rays. So after a bacon burger and mac and cheese, first baseman drove through the night with mom and dad, arriving at a Parsippany, New Jersey, hotel around 6 a.m.
Austin, also 24, had gotten his news earlier Friday. When his flight was canceled, the Yankees sent a vehicle service to take him on the 5-hour drive. A big free-swinger, Judge improved his swing mid-season and was hitting a respectable.270 with 19 home runs with the RailRiders.
It appears the fans will get a good look at Judge over the next few weeks, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Judge will be the everyday starting right-fielder.
“I figured Judge, being his first call-up, he’s not going to sleep anyway”, Cashman said.
“They’ve always kind of been a veteran ballclub”, Rays manager Kevin Cash said, “but right now they’re young”.
As the Major League Baseball non-waiver trade deadline approached, the Bronx Bombers traded away two-thirds of their three-headed bullpen monster (Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs and Andrew Miller to the Indians); starting pitcher Ivan Nova to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later, notwithstanding their most productive hitter (Carlos Beltran to the Rangers). His career slowed after a wrist injury and he was designated for assignment September 1, giving other teams a chance to claim him off waivers.
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Austin came to the plate in the bottom of the second with two outs after Gary Sanchez – whose debut last week triggered the official start of the Yankees youth movement – grounded out.
