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          New York Yankees

          Aaron Judge kind of has a 'Miguel Cabrera thing' going

          • Andrew Marchand, ESPN Senior WriterApr 12, 2017, 11:16 PM
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              Andrew Marchand is a senior writer for ESPNNewYork. He also regularly contributes to SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight, ESPNews, ESPN New York 98.7 FM and ESPN Radio. He joined ESPN in 2007 after nine years at the New York Post. Follow Andrew on Twitter »
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          NEW YORK -- If you want to talk about the future of the New York Yankees, watch Aaron Judge. Or better yet, try not to watch him.

          His manager, his teammates and surely Yankees fans can't keep their eyes off him because men his size are supposed to be playing a different professional sport.

          Maybe football or basketball or wrestling. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is 6-foot-4 and 260 pounds.

          Judge is 6-7 and 282. You could see him in WWE, suddenly appearing with Jim Ross yelling, "Here comes the Judge!"

          This would all be sideshow stuff, except for one part of the story that, at the moment, is developing quickly: Judge may be pretty good at baseball.

          He hit another homer on Wednesday in the Yankees' 8-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, which makes it three days in a row that he has done that. His average is .308 in 26 at-bats. The Yankees are .500 after eight games, and Judge has stood out during the three-game winning streak.

          He is becoming a rush-to-your TV guy when he steps to the plate. He was already a curiosity. But now we are witnessing a genuine ballplayer. He could help the Yankees not only win games but also sell tickets.

          You don't believe me? Ask a couple of professionals.

          • Manager Joe Girardi: "I think people are curious about how far they can see Aaron Judge hit a ball."

          • Third baseman Chase Headley: "Watching his BP, I mean, I've seen balls go farther than balls I have ever seen. Obviously, he is a massive human being. He has that kind of power. He is figuring out how to use it, and it is fun. It is exciting to see a guy come into his own and start to figure out things at the major leagues."

          Judge's seventh-inning, two-run homer went 435 feet and onto the netting over Monument Park for a two-run shot Wednesday.

          "If my barrel meets the ball, I think good things are going to happen," Judge said.

          Of course, it depends on your point of view. Judge nearly took Rays reliever Jumbo Diaz's head off with a sixth-inning RBI comebacker. Judge can just tap the ball and it flies off his bat.

          "He is not a guy that has to take a big swing," Headley said. "That is the beauty of being a massive human being. When you have that kind of power, you can just be simple and short to the ball. It is kind of a Miguel Cabrera-type thing. He can take a really short swing."

          Judge turns 25 in a couple of weeks, but his game already seems to be mature. He acts as if he has experienced the majors for a lifetime, not just 35 games. He is even having pregame catches with young fans.

          Over the past three years, the Yankees have had three rookies hit homers in consecutive games -- Greg Bird and Gary Sanchez were the other two. Now Judge is grabbing the spotlight.

          It is too early to say he is something special, but he might be.