SAN FRANCISCO — Aaron Judge’s season began with him being booed by the home crowd at Oracle Park during pregame introductions, and then getting it even more prior to his first at-bat.
And his night — aside from the lopsided 7-0 Yankees win over the Giants — only got worse.
Judge, who grew up a Giants fan in nearby Linden, Calif., struck out in the first inning, again in the second, one more time in the fourth and again in the sixth.
Over the course of his second straight AL MVP season a year ago, Judge didn’t strike out four times in a game even once.
He did it five times in 2024, when he also won MVP.
The outcome will no doubt soon be forgotten, perhaps even as soon as Friday if Judge tees off on left-hander Robbie Ray, but for one night, he looked mortal.
And it came after Judge took part in the WBC for Team USA and went 6-for-27.
The Yankees were most pleased this spring with how Judge bounced back from the flexor strain in his right elbow that landed him on the IL last year and impacted his throwing the rest of the season.
He’s shown no ill effects from that injury and made an especially strong throw to third during a WBC game that proved his arm strength was completely back.
But in previous seasons — certainly not in 2025 — Judge has gotten off to sluggish starts.
In his MVP season two years ago, he had a .754 OPS after the first month of the year before rebounding with a sizzling May and June.
Heading into Wednesday’s game, Judge had excellent numbers against San Francisco ace Logan Webb, going 3-for-7 with a pair of homers, two walks and three strikeouts.
On Wednesday, he whiffed swinging in his first at-bat and looking in the second, stranding Trent Grisham at third.
He left a pair of runners on base when he struck out to end the top of the fourth, and he was caught looking again in the sixth.
Judge put the ball in play in the ninth with a groundout to third, but he was the only Yankee without a hit in the season-opening win.
If it’s any consolation, Judge heads into Friday’s game 3-for-8 lifetime against the lefty Ray. All three hits are homers, and he’s also walked six times and struck out just once.
In addition, he’s Aaron Judge and has produced three of the greatest offensive seasons in history in the last four years.
The one exception was in 2023, when another terrific year was derailed by a toe injury suffered when he ran into the outfield fence at Dodger Stadium.
