For most of the past decade, Michael Wacha has been a dependable MLB pitcher.
But against Aaron Judge, the Royals right-hander has been at another level.
Judge, the AL MVP favorite, enters the Yankees‘ ALDS matchup with Kansas City just 1-for-18 with 11 strikeouts and three walks in his career against Wacha, the Royals’ Game 1 starter.
That equals a .056 average, Judge’s lowest against any pitcher he’s faced at least 17 times.
“He’s a great pitcher,” Judge said. “He’s got five or six different pitches he can throw. He’s got good feel for his fastball, changeup. Works that cutter to both sides of the plate, and he comes after you, man. He’s a tough at-bat, but definitely a fun one.”
Equipped with a putaway changeup and a 93.6-mph fastball, Wacha went 13-8 with a 3.35 ERA and 145 strikeouts in 166.2 innings this season, his first with Kansas City. The veteran owns a 101-62 record and a 3.89 ERA in his career.
Wacha did not pitch against the Yankees this year but has faced Judge in nine different games over his 12-year career, which included stints with the Cardinals, Mets, Rays, Red Sox and Padres.
“He’s a guy that you definitely game plan for, and you have to make really quality pitches to a guy like that,” Wacha said Friday of Judge. “I don’t know if you up the focus against him or not, because I try to keep the same focus for everybody, but maybe just a little bit more aware of, ‘Hey, this is where I can miss,’ and different things like that.”
Judge went 1-for-3 against Wacha in their previous meeting in May 2023, breaking an 0-for-15 skid against the then-Padres right-hander. That hit was a single.
“I’ll chalk this up to [a] small sample, and I’ll take Aaron Judge against just about anyone on any day,” manager Aaron Boone said Thursday. “But we know Wacha’s a tough customer. He’s always pitched us tough. We know we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
Judge, 32, led the majors with 58 home runs, 144 RBI, 133 walks, a .458 on-base percentage, a .701 slugging percentage and a 1.159 OPS this season. His .322 average ranked third.
He looks to carry that gaudy production into Saturday night’s series opener against the Royals — and Wacha.
“I look at this matchup coming up like it’s a different game, and now it’s just one game at the time,” hitting coach James Rowson said of Judge vs. Wacha. “There’s something about having a track record, and then there’s staying in the present, staying in the moment that’s coming to us, and I know Judgey’s going to be in the moment.”
