Aaron Judge discusses ignoring warnings about center field

New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge sounds happy he ignored warnings about patrolling center field that were shared following the club's offseason acquisitions of All-Star outfielder Juan Soto and fellow outfielder Alex Verdugo.

"You’ve got a great view (from there)," Judge recently said about playing center field, per MLB insider Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. "When they were talking to me about getting Verdugo and Soto, (I said) wherever I need to play, whether it’s left field, center field, second, (designated hitter), whatever I’ve got to do, I’ll do it so these guys can feel comfortable and come in here and play their game. I love center field."

Former Yankees hitting coach Sean Casey, Yankees play-by-play announcer Michael Kay, retired Gold Glove center fielder Lorenzo Cain and Yankees legend Bernie Williams were among noteworthy members of the MLB community who voiced concerns about Judge staying healthy as a center fielder. Thus far, the towering slugger and his club have avoided any long-term issues related to where he's played.

Judge had appeared in 78 games this season ahead of the Yankees' matchup at the New York Mets on Tuesday night. According to ESPN stats, the 32-year-old began the afternoon leading MLB with 28 home runs, 70 RBI and a 1.108 OPS. Most importantly as it pertains to the Yankees' overall goals, the first-place club entered Tuesday's MLB action leading the second-place Baltimore Orioles by two games in the American League East standings.

"Coming out here, the steps you take, hitting BP, going out there on defense, it wears on your body," Judge said about reducing his pregame work through the first half of the ongoing season. "I’ve kind of tweaked the workload a little bit. But it’s just about being smart. After six, seven, eight years playing the game up here, you start to figure out little things."

As of Tuesday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Judge as the overall betting favorite at -140 odds to win the AL Most Valuable Player Award. He's done well to put his springtime slump behind him and will now look to stay healthy through the summer as the Yankees pursue more than just a playoff berth with Judge and Soto leading the charge.