TAMPA — As Aaron Judge talked about his upcoming debut in the World Baseball Classic, the Yankees standout and Team USA captain expressed that the most exciting aspect of the tournament will be sharing a clubhouse with other elite players.
Having been a seven-time All-Star, the reigning American League MVP is no stranger to environments filled with talent. However, Judge anticipates that the atmosphere in this instance will be unique due to the national pride driving not only his squad but all the participating teams.
“There’s a lot of national pride involved,” Judge noted, mentioning some playful banter with Yankees teammates representing other countries. “This is fantastic for baseball and thrilling for the fans.”
Judge is eager to engage with other stars on Team USA, which boasts an exceptionally strong roster for this WBC edition. When asked if there were specific players he wanted to learn from, Judge shared with the Daily News that he has a few in mind.
First on his list is Team USA’s first baseman, Bryce Harper.
“Harper is someone who’s had a successful, varied career across different teams and situations,” Judge remarked about the former National and current Phillie, who also has several MVP titles to his name. “He’s definitely someone I want to learn from, especially since he’ll likely be hitting ahead of me. I’m keen to understand his approach and strategies.”
Judge couldn’t stop at one player, though, as he also mentioned two center fielders: the Twins’ Byron Buxton and the Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong.
While Judge has mostly been a right fielder — he was the man in the middle of the Yankees’ outfield in 2024 — he already finds defensive pointers from Bombers center fielder Trent Grisham helpful. Perhaps with some added advice from Buxton and PCA, Judge can join the trio in the Gold Glove club this season.
“They’re two of the best center fielders in the game,” said Judge, a talented defender in his own right. “That’s one thing that’s great about having Grisham, another one of the best center fielders in the game. Having him next to me to pick his brain, what he looks for, what he tries to train, what he does [helps], so Bux and those guys all kind of do the same thing.”
Judge will have plenty of others to talk shop with on Team USA, including, but certainly not limited to, Cy Young winners Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal — the latter said he’ll only make one WBC start on Monday — the recently retired and Hall of Fame-bound Clayton Kershaw, and 2025 AL MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh.
While Judge will also talk about life in the majors, leadership and family with other stars, he said he is most interested to see how they prepare.
“That’s the one thing I always look at any guy we get [with the Yankees],” Judge said. “’How do you prepare to be great?’ All those guys in that room are going to be great, so that’ll be fun.”
Of course, Judge will try to give as much as he takes during the WBC. He just wants to make sure that he saves the best tips for his Yankees peers.
“I’m an open book,” he said. “If you’ve got questions for me, or you want to watch anything, see anything, I’m here to grow the game. I won’t give away all the top secrets. I usually save those for the Yankees, but I’m here to help guys. That’s what this game is about.”
A few of Judge’s Yankees teammates will also briefly ditch the pinstripes for the stars and stripes, as first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and closer David Bednar are also playing for the U.S. Meanwhile, former Yankee and current special advisor Andy Pettitte is going to serve as pitching coach under manager Mark DeRosa.
Other Yankees playing in the WBC include Jazz Chisholm Jr. (Great Britain); José Caballero (Panama); Fernando Cruz and Elmer Rodríguez (Puerto Rico); and Camilo Doval, Austin Wells and Amed Rosario (Dominican Republic).
With the Yankees’ long list of WBC participants expected to leave camp on March 1 — the tournament runs from March 5-17 — Judge can’t wait to don a different uniform for a little while as Team USA looks to avenge its second-place finish to Japan in 2023.
“I never had the opportunity to represent the USA,” Judge said, “and getting a chance to wear that across my chest is going to be pretty powerful.”
