Yankees RF Aaron Judge's record start to the MLB season has the rookie "quickly connecting" with N.Y. baseball fans and he has emerged as the team's "next big franchise star," according to Tara Sullivan of the Bergen RECORD. The 25-year-old Judge leads MLB with 13 home runs after last night, becoming the "youngest player in MLB history to hit 13 homers in his team's first 26 games." If the Yankees' young roster is "ever really going to take hold, it will be Judge and his affable gap-toothed smile and laid-back friendly personality out in front, leading the way for teammates" like C Gary Sanchez and 1B Greg Bird. A little over a month since Opening Day, the baseball world is "wrapping Judge in a blanket of early season adoration." Mets P Noah Syndergaard "may have believed it was his team’s turn to own" the N.Y. market, but while Syndergaard "leads the Mets’ idle army of injured and infirmed, it’s Aaron Judge dropping the hammer now." He "continues to provide a daily dose of baseball must-see TV" (Bergen RECORD, 5/4). FS1's Nick Swisher said of Judge, "We're watching a star in the making" ("MLB Whiparound," FS1, 5/3).
JUDGE IS EXECUTING: In N.Y., Kevin Kernan wrote with Syndergaard out indefinitely with a shoulder injury, "this town now belongs to Judge." He is "larger than life, like Syndergaard, but is quicker to smile," and is "having more fun than anyone." Judge is "becoming the star of this generation," and it likely "won’t be long before his No. 99 jersey is the jersey of Yankees fans." Yankees P Dellin Betances said, “If I’m a fan here in New York, I come see him. I’ll pay an expensive ticket to come see him.’’ (N.Y. POST, 5/3). ESPN.com's Andrew Marchand writes Judge is the "center of the baseball universe," as his at-bats are "stop everything events that have spectators breathlessly anticipating what his next highlight might be" (ESPN.com, 5/4). On Long Island, David Lennon writes Judge is a "baseball-wrecking homer machine that doesn’t share much in common with anyone in the sport right now" (NEWSDAY, 5/4). MLB Net’s Kevin Millar said of Yankees Manager Joe Girardi comparing Judge to Derek Jeter, “He's starting to see a quality from a young player that had very similar qualities to Derek Jeter and I really appreciate Joe Girardi’s comments. I really did. It was pretty cool” (“Intentional Talk,” MLB Network, 5/3).
