Aaron Judge ‘a brick wall’ to narratives around his struggles as World Series shifts to Bronx

Perhaps it was wishful thinking, or just trying to will it into existence.

But Aaron Judge knows by now that a historically great regular season only buys him so much goodwill from the fan base when the postseason rolls around.

And with the Yankees arriving back in The Bronx on Monday facing a 2-0 deficit in the World Series, with Judge’s ill-timed slump at the heart of their struggles, an angsty Yankee Stadium could await in Game 3.

“We got the best fans in baseball, so they’re definitely going to be loud, they’re going to be rowdy, they’re going to have our back all game,” Judge said Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.

One way to ensure that will actually be the case throughout Monday night would be for Judge to deliver an early jolt after going a brutal 6-for-40 with 19 strikeouts through his first 11 games this October.

But what happens if the presumptive AL MVP strikes out in his first at-bat or two? Or he just comes up empty again with runners on base, especially if the Dodgers take an early lead?

It was only two years ago that Judge, 10 days removed from hitting his record-breaking 62nd home run, was booed in Game 2 of the ALDS amid a quiet start to his playoffs.

There is always a chance that Yankee Stadium could pull a Citizens Bank Park for Trea Turner or Citi Field for Francisco Lindor and give Judge a standing ovation ahead of his first at-bat Monday.

But Judge’s teammates insist he is unaffected by the mounting noise, good or bad.

“The narrative is whatever is made of it, but he’s a brick wall,” said Anthony Rizzo, Judge’s closest friend on the team. “He knows how to handle all this stuff. I’m proud of who he is as a person and a leader. These times right now define him even more because he comes in every day and is still the same as he’s ever been. Monday will be fun to get to The Bronx and have our fans behind us.”

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Judge has struck out three times in each of the first two games of the World Series, giving him 11 games with at least 3 strikeouts in his postseason career, the most in MLB history, per MLB Network.

He is far from the only problem for the Yankees, but his possible revival represents their biggest potential solution, as he has shown throughout his career how much he can make up for the club’s other flaws with his game-changing bat.

For now, though, the numbers are troubling. So far this postseason, Judge is just 3-for-20 with runners on base and 0-for-10 with six strikeouts with runners in scoring position.

Those struggles have been magnified in the first inning — an inning Judge crushed during the regular season, batting .359 with a 1.307 OPS and 18 home runs.

With Gleyber Torres and Juan Soto regularly reaching base ahead of him in the opening frame this month, he has yet to deliver any early momentum, going 0-for-10 with six strikeouts and a hit-by-pitch in 11 first innings, nine of which have come with runners on base.

“I’ve got to do my job,” Judge said. “Guys around me are doing their job getting on base and I’m failing them backing them up. We’ve got to turn it around in Game 3.”

Especially of late, Judge has hurt himself by expanding the zone. His chase rate during a dominant regular season was a career-low 17.7 percent. In 11 playoff games this month, it is 29.7 percent.

Pitchers have attacked Judge with off-speed and breaking pitches, against which he is just 1-for-20 with 14 strikeouts this postseason. Judge has swung at 23 off-speed and breaking pitches out of the zone and whiffed at 21 of them.

“It’s just about getting in a good position,” manager Aaron Boone said. “You get in that strong position, that load where then the swing decisions follow that. So I think he’s kind of working through that. Once that happens, it happens like that.”

The Yankees have to hope that it will happen for Judge beginning on Monday night.

“It’s the World Series … we’re all a little bit anxious,” Jazz Chisholm Jr. said. “I feel like when we get home, he’s going to feel more confident and calm down a little more going into a home crowd.”