A-Rod rips Yankees for batting Judge leadoff: 'This is gimmicky'
Former New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez shared his opinion on the new American League home run champ batting leadoff in the postseason.
"As far as Aaron Judge, this is gimmicky baseball," Rodriguez said on the Fox Sports panel while breaking down the Yankees' 4-2 ALDS loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Friday. "You can not let your best player, your best hitter, hit first.
"This is gimmicky baseball ... It's ridiculous that [Judge] is hitting lead off. It's a mistake. I don't know who's doing it, Boone or Cashman, but somebody has to change that immediately."
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- @AROD on the Yankees batting Aaron Judge lead off pic.twitter.com/10C4UZ2Oaz
"It's ridiculous that this guy is hitting leadoff, and it's a mistake," the three-time MVP continued. "I don't know who's doing it, (manager Aaron) Boone or (general manager Brian) Cashman, but somebody has to change that immediately."
Judge primarily hit second for the Yankees this season but switched full time to leadoff in early September while pursuing Roger Maris' AL home run record. He occupied the top spot on the lineup card over his final 23 games of the regular season, hitting .364/.519/.701 with seven homers.
However, that success hasn't translated to the playoffs, as Judge is 0-for-8 with seven strikeouts and one walk through the first two games. Yankee Stadium even booed their superstar center fielder during Friday's contest, which split the best-of-five series 1-1 with the matchup moving to Progressive Field in Cleveland for the next two games.
The complaint seemed to work, with Boone dropping Judge to second in the order for Saturday's Game 3. Infielder Gleyber Torres will assume leadoff duties.
"Well, if A-Rod says it," Boone joked during his pregame press availability, according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.