It was a forgetful Opening Day for New York Yankees star Aaron Judge as he went hitless in the 7-0 win over the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on March 25. Nonetheless, the rest of his teammates picked up the slack on offense.
New York did their damage in the second inning as it recorded five of their seven runs. Moreover, the Yankees received impressive performances from Trent Grisham and Ryan McMahon, who each recorded two RBIs.
Despite the Yankees’ role players stepping up after an off-night from Judge, the slugger wasn’t immune to criticism, even with this game being the first of 162. On March 26, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith didn’t hold back, noting that he expected more from Judge, given it was Opening Day and the only game of the day.
“The reality is that when you look at Aaron Judge, who I absolutely love, who’s a monster, and I’m happy to have him as a New York Yankee, the problem is too many moments he has had in his career where this Goliath of a man and a baseball player comes up considerably and conspicuously small,” Smith said on “First Take.” “That is not something that can happen to you when you are associated with the all-time greats.
“Yesterday was Opening Day. You’ve got 161 games to go. But it looked like a pretty good moment. It was on Netflix. It was opening night. You’re the only game in town. You saw the fans up there. It looked like an electric environment. And everybody around him came up big but him. Yeah, see, that’s the kind of stuff that gets Yankee fans worried because we’re looking for it and we’re saying the postseason is moments.”
Albert Pujols Talks About Yankees’ Aaron Judge in Pressure Moments
Judge’s ability to come up in pressure moments has been a topic of discussion heading into the 2026 MLB season. Recently, Albert Pujols shared advice to Judge on handling those pressure moments.
“I think my encouragement to [Judge] is really in those situations myself, I never changed my approach,“ Pujols told Adam Schein in a March 24 video from Mad Dog Sports Radio.
“I took my approach like it was with nobody on, with men on. It doesn’t matter. My approach never changed. It’s still the same. For me, I have to probably ask him on a private side, to ask him if he thinks differently, because I haven’t had that opportunity to ask him about it.
“He’s a great player, and I know that probably people are frustrated a lot of the time that he hasn’t come through. I was in that situation too. It’s just part of baseball, you know, and part of growing mentally and physically in this game.”
Albert Pujols Gives Encouraging Message to Aaron Judge
Moreover, Pujols believes that Judge will figure it out in these pressure situations, despite the concerns many have about the Yankees slugger.
“Sooner or later, it’s gonna click,“ Pujols added. “He’s still one of the best in the game. I will take him on my team, and if I’m building a team, I’d be the first guy that I would pick to have on my team. When it comes to those situations, it’s just I have to really ask him if he thinks a little different, because I don’t know. Everybody has a different approach at the plate.
“I had a different approach in the way I went about it. He probably has a different approach as well, so it’s hard to say why he sometimes, in those situations, probably doesn’t come through. Maybe he presses a little bit. Who knows? I don’t know. But like I say, he’s definitely a guy that I will put on my team 100 percent.”
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