BY JAMES TORRES, SPORTS STAFFER

Yep! You read that right. The New York Yankees will not win a World Series with Aaron Judge.

There are a lot of great things to say about the superstar right fielder. Following Judge’s historic 2022 season, many Yankees fans now expect him to bring New York its next championship.

But Judge, the Yankees’ newly minted team captain, will never bring home a World Series trophy while wearing the pinstripes.

Take last season for example: Despite leading the MLB in home runs with 62 — the highest total in American League history — Judge’s heroics weren’t enough to take his team all the way.

Baseball has never been a one-man show, and it takes more than a few good — or even great —players to win it all.

Granted, Judge and his home-run streak were the main reason the Yankees ran away with their division’s title last season. Without Judge, last year’s Yankees would have been forced to fight an uphill battle for a Wild Card spot.

But in order to win a World Series title, Judge will need a lot of support behind him. And that is where the problem lies.

The Yankees have shown some strength by calling up their top prospect, Anthony Volpe. They need an injury-free bullpen (what team doesn’t?!) and significant roster additions to support their new captain. And while the Yanks were aggressive this off-season, it wasn’t enough.

The MLB is nothing like the NBA or the NFL — where superstars like Lebron James or Tom Brady have the ball in their hands to lead their teams to victory. Even then, it can’t be ignored that Aaron Judge hasn’t had much success in the postseason.

In 44 career postseason games as a Yankee, Judge has a batting average of .211 with 36 hits, 13 homers and 25 RBIs. In just nine postseason games last year, he struck out 15 times in 38 plate appearances. While the Yankees have made the playoffs every year since 2017, the team just hasn’t found the right mix of talent to go deep into October.

Former Yankees captain Derek Jeter once said, “You don’t just accidentally end up in the World Series.” It’s going to take more than a home-run record for Judge to lead the Yankees to their 28th World Series championship.

torresjl22@bonaventure.edu