Facing Aaron Judge: Best stories of pitching to Yankees star - ESPN

Since Aaron Judge entered the majors near the end of the 2016 season, there has not been a more prolific — and fear-inducing — slugger than the New York Yankees superstar.

Listed at 6-foot-7, 282 pounds, Judge's mix of size, power and patience makes him every pitcher's nightmare. Nobody has hit more home runs than Judge's 359 since his major league debut, and nothing else can get an entire stadium to perk up in anticipation quite like when No. 99 steps to the plate.

Although a midseason right elbow injury slowed the pace a bit on what could have been his best work yet, Judge is putting the finishing touches on his fourth season with at least 40 home runs and his fourth straight with an OPS over 1.000 while, yet again, entering the final weeks with the American League MVP award within his reach.

We asked those who have faced Judge throughout his major league career — and some who first got their first taste of his power before the reigning AL MVP was a household name — to share their best Aaron Judge stories.

For better or worse, every pitcher who faces Judge today goes into the matchup knowing what he is up against. But there was a time when he had the element of surprise on his side as he rose through the ranks at Fresno State.

During the 2012 season, Mark Appel was the talk of college baseball. On March 2, the ace of No. 1-ranked Stanford baseball took the mound for a nonconference matchup against Judge's Bulldogs unaware of what awaited him.

«We had very limited scouting. Video scouting was not really a widespread thing,» Appel recalled earlier this month. «So, we knew just based off of the numbers, but it was so early in the season. I don't think he had a prolific freshman year. He was relatively unknown to us.

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