HOUSTON — Baseball stars and competing most valuable player candidates occasionally come in vastly dissimilar shapes and sizes.
There rarely has been a truer or more glaring example than pending AL Championship Series foes Aaron Judge and Jose Altuve.
One of the gone-viral sports photos of the summer pitted the 6-foot-7 Judge standing next to and dwarfing the 5-foot-6 Altuve at second base earlier this season at Minute Maid Park, where the 2017 AL MVP debate figures to be rekindled in full force when the Yankees face the Astros on Friday in the ALCS opener following an unlikely Game 5 vanquishing of the Indians on Wednesday night in Cleveland.
That the Bombers accomplished that surprising feat – becoming just the 10th team in MLB history to overcome an 0-2 deficit to win a five-game postseason series — with barely any offensive contribution from their breakout star feels all the more remarkable when you consider how Judge carried their offense during the first half and over the final month of the regular season, sandwiched around a six-week slump following the All-Star Game.
“It’s not weighing on me at all,” Judge said Thursday night following the Yankees’ pre-series workout. “Every day is a new day. It’s just tough in certain situations when you want to go out there and produce for the team and you don’t get the job done, especially in a big situation like that, a Game 5.
“It’s all on the line, win or go home. The past, I can’t do nothing about what happened in the past or what happened in the regular season, either.”
Of course, Judge’s inconsistency — as compared to Altuve’s far more level production all season — shows that the disparity in physical appearance between the hulking Yankees right fielder and the diminutive Astros second baseman doesn’t represent the only significant difference when assessing the merits of the two candidates for the league’s most prestigious award.
It also is the primary argument in favor of Altuve, the three-time AL batting champion (.346 this year), for MVP despite Judge’s glaring overall power numbers (an AL-best 52 home runs).
But Judge isn’t approaching this as a head-to-head matchup.
“It’s about the Astros and the Yankees, who’s gonna go to the World Series. It’s just about the team right now,” Judge said. “I think the fans are more excited about two great teams getting an opportunity to play.
“But I’ve talked to (Altuve) a little bit, what a great guy. You see what he does on the baseball field, but the type of person he is, you see the passion he has for the game, and it’s pretty fun to watch.”
Albeit not a factor in MVP determinations, since voting took place before the playoffs began, Judge endured a dreadful division series against Cleveland. He registered just one hit in 20 at-bats with 16 strikeouts, a postseason record for one series, including four in three of the five games.
His lone hit at least was an important one — a two-run double in a 7-3 win in Game 4 — and he robbed a potential home run to aid Masahiro Tanaka’s 1-0 gem the previous night.
But Judge otherwise was a non-factor against the Indians, and that will have to change – the rookie should at least have to come close to matching Altuve’s production – for the Yanks to move on to the World Series and a shot at a 28th championship.
“He’s such a unique player,” Houston’s Game 1 starter, Dallas Keuchel, said of Judge. “For people to say he was exposed or whatnot, I don’t believe in that.
“I think he’s a tremendous talent and one swing can change the course of the game.”
Altuve actually accomplished that a few times with a stellar performance in Houston’s division series victory. He batted .533 (8-for-15) with five runs scored and three home runs (all in Game 1) in a four-game elimination of the Red Sox.
“Probably most importantly, I’ve just seen him be the most consistent player in baseball at his craft, being a good hitter, good defender, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, All-Star, hits leader, batting titles, you name it, he’s done it,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said of Altuve, who didn’t speak to the media on Thursday. “I know what’s high on his list is getting to and winning the World Series. So for me to be able the last three years to watch him grow, develop a relationship with him, see how he’s impacted his teammates, hopefully he can add an MVP to that trophy case.”
The Yankees need significantly more production from Judge beginning Friday. His resurgent September — 15 homers, 32 RBI and a 1.352 OPS — swayed me to believe that Judge had greatly narrowed the gap and might have even surpassed Altuve for MVP consideration. (No, I didn’t have a vote this year). Now he needs to show his value to the Yankees more than ever.
