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Through April 26, batting exclusively in front of Stanton and Rizzo, Judge hit .178/.317/.356, taking his walks -- 20 -- but not seeing enough pitches to do damage against. Just 45.9% of the pitches he saw were in the zone, per Statcast. On April 27, with Verdugo behind him, Judge homered. On April 28, with Verdugo behind him, Judge homered. Verdugo then went on paternity leave for a few days, and Judge didn’t homer. On May 3, Boone slotted Verdugo into the cleanup spot behind Judge against right-handed pitchers for good, and Judge has hit .394/.509/1.000 in the 27 games since then.
