Judge shares insight on the internal growth he believes could push the team to the next level, in conversation with Kevin Durant for Boardroom’s March Cover Story.
There’s a certain tone Aaron Judge uses when he talks about teammates he truly believes in. It’s not about hype. It’s about trajectory.
Asked by Kevin Durant which players could help push the New York Yankees to another level this season, Judge didn’t point to the obvious or default to clichés about collective effort. Instead, he zeroed in on three names, each representing a different kind of leap the team will need.
“There’s so many guys,” Judge said, before narrowing his focus.
The first was Jazz Chisholm Jr., a player whose raw production already turns heads. But for Judge, the real story isn’t what Chisholm has done; it’s what he’s about to become. There’s an expectation that comes with elite talent, especially in a contract year, and Judge sees him inching closer to embracing it fully. Not just as a playmaker, but as a centerpiece.
That perspective — of players growing into something larger than their stat lines — echoes throughout the Yankees’ clubhouse, and it’s a theme that carries into Judge’s broader conversation with Durant in Boardroom’s March Cover Story, where leadership, pressure, and evolution take center stage.
From there, Judge shifts to Austin Wells, highlighting a different kind of value. Wells isn’t defined by flash, but by feel — the ability to control a game from behind the plate. Judge points to the incremental improvements, the quiet adjustments, the growing command over a pitching staff. It’s the kind of development that doesn’t always register publicly, but internally, it changes everything.
Then comes Ryan McMahon, the newest piece. Known for his defensive consistency, McMahon arrives with credibility already established. But in Judge’s view, there’s another level waiting offensively, a belief shaped not by reputation, but by proximity.
Individually, each player represents upside. Together, they signal something more cohesive: a team on the verge of aligning its potential. And if Judge is right, that alignment might be what finally pushes them over the top.
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