Going deep isn’t easy at Oracle Park. You wouldn’t know from watching Aaron Judge, though.
With the Yankees in San Francisco for a three-game set against the Giants, the slugger crushed three homers in the first two games of the series. The third, belted off Giants ace Logan Webb in a 7-3 Yankees win, traveled 464 feet to left field on Saturday.
“That was a big fella home run, my goodness. The power that this guy has — it’s rare,” Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow said of the two-run, first-inning bomb. “That is deep in the stands in left center. I don’t know if we’ve ever seen one go up there.”
Aaron Judge keeps showing Giants fans what they missed out on with his third home run of the series.
Oracle Park is now in its 25th season. Very few home runs have reached that part of the park. pic.twitter.com/21FNcE17U2
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) June 2, 2024
Judge’s Friday homers weren’t cheap shots either, as he sent balls 394 feet to left and 426 feet to straightaway center. The major league home run leader, fresh off a torrid month of May, now has 21 jacks this season.
Judge’s most recent home runs have come in his backyard, as the Linden, California native grew up a Giants fan and was courted by the team as a free agent a few years ago.
It’s easy to see why the Giants were seriously interested, as not even their ballpark can contain Judge’s pop.
Oracle Park is considered one of the hardest stadiums to hit in with a Park Factor of 96 since 2022, according to Baseball Savant. That ranks 27th in the majors.
Prior to Saturday, only 42 longballs had been hit in San Francisco this season. Oddly enough, that was tied with Colorado’s Coors Field – generally considered MLB’s friendliest venues to hitters – for the fewest homers hit in a stadium this year.
Last season, Oracle ranked 27th in homers hit. In 2022, it ranked 28th.
Since 2005, 27 stadiums have produced more home runs than the Giants’ home, which has gone through a few name changes. The year before that, Barry Bonds, the all-time home run king, crushed 45 dingers.
A Giants hitter hasn’t hit at least 30 homers in a season since.
“Barry and a lot of those guys back in the day made it look pretty small at times,” Judge said of Oracle on Friday, per MLB.com.
And now, he has too.
Poteet Impresses Again
While Judge mashed again, Cody Poteet delivered another impressive performance in his second start of the season.
The right-hander, promoted from Triple-A following Clarke Schmidt’s lat injury, held the Giants to three runs (2 earned) over five innings. He also totaled three hits, one walk and six strikeouts.
Poteet dazzled in his Yankees debut on April 13, holding the Guardians to one run over six frames. Just a spot starter that day, Poteet has a chance to stick in the rotation this time around with Schmidt injured and Gerrit Cole still a few rehab starts away from being activated.
Stanton Smash
Judge wasn’t the only Yankees slugger to homer on Saturday, as Giancarlo Stanton hit his 14th home run of the season in the eighth inning. The two-run homer traveled 358 feet at exactly 100 mph.
For comparison, Judge’s 464-foot missile traveled at 115.7 mph.
The Yankees also had two triples in the game, which came courtesy of Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo. Judge, Verdugo and Stanton all had two RBI.
