Aaron Judge and Aaron Boone fouled off a fastball directed at the Yankees — a fastball thrown by Judge’s own hitting coach.
Richard Schenck, an independent coach who has worked with Judge for years, took aim at the organization during its recent downturn, saying on social media Thursday that the “offensive player development is terrible.”
The Yankees’ offense (and pitching) has struggled in dropping 13 of 18 games, including Friday’s 5-3 loss in 10 innings to the Red Sox in The Bronx — though the Yankees are still 18 games over .500.
Critics will pounce upon a historic franchise with a sky-high payroll that is not performing, but rarely will those critics include a confidant of the team’s best player.
Judge claimed ignorance at what his personal coach had tweeted and then essentially shrugged.
“I honestly really don’t care what’s said on Twitter,” said Judge, who was 0-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout Friday. “It doesn’t involve me, to be honest. It’s somebody else making a comment. I’m not going to comment for somebody else.”
Judge still works with Schenck, a Missouri-based coach, every two weeks, he said.
Schenck, known as “Teacherman,” began helping Judge with his swing during the 2016-17 offseason and has taken credit for the breakout of one of the game’s best hitters.
The Yankees have surrounded Judge with Juan Soto and many hitters who have slumped recently.
“They’ve lost 13 out of [17] while he’s hitting like an MVP,” Schenck wrote Thursday. “The Yankees offensive player development is terrible.”
If he wanted to respond, Boone could have pointed at leadoff hitter Ben Rice, who has hit well since debuting, or defending the development of hitters such as Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells and Gleyber Torres.
Instead, the Yankees manager chalked up the shot to one more in a barrage of them.
“That’s stuff that’s out of your control,” Boone said. “People are going to say things, and certainly everyone’s entitled to their opinion. Especially when you go through a tough stretch and you wear this uniform, I know people are going to take shots and things like that.
“You can’t get all consumed with all that stuff. We got enough to worry about in making sure we’re buttoned up and putting our best foot forward every day.”
— Additional reporting by Greg Joyce
