Judge's Opening Day Strikeouts: A Homecoming Gone Awry

0:00It's March 26th. This is MLB News today, your AI-powered source for everything MLB. Aaron Judge kicked off the season with a rough outing on opening day against the San Francisco Giants. The New York Yankees captain and reigning most valuable player struck out four times, becoming the first defending MVP to do that in a team's first. Judge grew up just 90 miles from Oracle Park, rooting for the Giants as a kid on family trips to the ballpark. This homecoming game turned into anything, but what he might have dreamed about. Stats highlight how rare this is. No previous reigning MVP had more than three strikeouts on opening day. That mark was shared by Willie Stargill in 1980, Sammy Sosa at 1999, Mike Trout in 2015, Josh Donaldson in 20, 16, and Chris Bryant in 2017. His strikeouts came against starter Logan Webb three times and reliever Keaton Wynn once. They included a swing and miss in the first inning, a called strike in the second,

1:01a foul tip in the fourth, and looking in the sixth. The Yankees season rolls on from here, with Judge sure to shake this off and chase another big year at the plate.