Aaron Judge's glaring strikeout rate highlights Yankees captain's postseason struggles

On Monday, the New York Yankees and Aaron Judge are up against division rivals the Kansas City Royals in Game 2 of the ALDS at Yankee Stadium. While the Bronx Bombers are hoping for a deep postseason run on the back of their captain's red-hot form in the regular season, Judge has not been up to the mark in his at-bats so far.

The six-time All-Star and 2022 AL MVP has not been able to register a hit in the postseason so far and a glaring stat line during the second game of the division series highlighted his October struggles.

During Judge's plate appearance in the third inning on Monday, a graphic by the broadcasters showed that the Yankees All-Star has the highest strikeout rate by any player in postseason history.

His 34.3% strikeout rate in the postseason is marginally higher than former World Series-winning catcher Martin Maldonado's 34.2% in second place.

Aaron Judge aware of high stakes heading into postseason

Aaron Judge finished the regular season with his second career-high number of 58 home runs. His pristine form ignited hopes of the Yankees fans heading into the postseason.

Although fans hoped for a turnaround from the Yankees captain in this year's postseason, Judge has struggled, like in his previous plate appearances in the playoffs.

Despite his immense record in the regular season throughout his MLB career, Judge is aware of the high standards in the clubhouse (via ESPN.com):

"Ever since I've been a Yankee, getting drafted in 2013, all that was ever engrained in my head or what we were taught is win in New York," Judge said ahead of the Yankees' regular season finale. "Be a winner. Championship mindset. It's just always been the way I was raised, even before I got here it was: If you don't win, what's the point?"

Aaron Judge registered his first hit of the postseason in the second game of the ALDS as the Yankees trailed the Royals 4-1 heading into the ninth inning.