Fresno State alum Aaron Judge gains steam with four-hit day in Triple-A

Ex-Fresno State star Aaron Judge says he’s not worried about “the hype and expectations” that come with being an elite prospect for one of baseball’s marquee franchises.

Games like Tuesday, however, are the kind that help send the hype machine into turbo drive. Judge, 23, off to a slow start since his promotion to the New York Yankees’ Triple-A team at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, delivered the first four-hit day of his professional career.

A double and three singles in the RailRiders’ 12-8 loss at Lehigh Valley lifted Judge’s Triple-A average from .160 to .276. He is eight games into his first trip to the highest level of minor league baseball after starting the season by hitting .284 with 12 homers and 44 RBIs in 250 at-bats at Double-A Trenton.

The 6-foot-7, 275-pound Judge has played just a year and a half as a professional since being selected in the first round, No. 32 overall, by the Yankees in 2013 out of Fresno State. A quad injury delayed the start of his pro career until 2014.

But his numbers were enough to earn him a spot among the best prospects named to this year’s Futures Game, scheduled for July 12 as part of All-Star Weekend ahead of the major league All-Star Game in Cincinnati.

“I try not to think about the hype and expectations,” Judge told northjersey.com in an article titled “Slugger Aaron Judge on fast track to major leagues.”

“I’m not getting paid to think about that stuff.”

But there is no doubting he is considered a key part of the Yankees future, rated as New York’s No. 2 prospect and No. 56 among all minor leaguers by mlb.com.

“One thing my Dad always said was, ‘Be where your feet are,’” said Judge, who prepped at Linden High. “Right now I’m just trying to progress wherever I am and help the RailRiders and the Yankees however I can. That’s where my focus is.”

This story was originally published July 1, 2015 at 12:37 PM with the headline "Fresno State alum Aaron Judge gains steam with four-hit day in Triple-A."