Aaron Judge gets clear message from future MLB Hall of Famer amid Yankees’ search for World Series

After the Los Angeles Dodgers repeated last season, all MLB teams will now get the chance to compete for World Series glory.

The new campaign begins on Wednesday 25 March, with the New York Yankees taking on the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on 2026 MLB Opening Day.

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The game will be broadcast on Netflix, a decision which angered Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay, but all will likely be forgotten by October.

The normal laid-back Spring Training was overshadowed by the World Baseball Classic, in which Team Venezuela beat Team USA in the final.

Yankees slugger and Team USA captain Aaron Judge was heavily criticized for his 0-4, three-strikeout performance in the championship game.

Ahead of a season where the Yankees will bid for their 28th World Series title, future MLB Hall of Famer Albert Pujols offered Judge some crucial advice on how to prepare for the critical games and moments.

“I think my encouragement to [Judge] is really in those situations myself, I never changed my approach,” Pujols told Adam Schein of Mad Dog Sports Radio.

“I took my approach like it was nobody on, with men on. It doesn’t matter. My approach never changed, it’s still the same.

“For me, I have to probably ask him on a private side, to ask him if he thinks differently because I haven’t had that opportunity to ask him about it.”

Although Judge has collected three MVP awards in his 10-year career, it’s in the postseason and clutch moments where he has faced the harshest criticisms.

In 65 postseason games across his tenure, he has a .236 batting average, with 17 home runs and 41 RBI’s.

In seven WBC games, Judge hit just .222 with two home runs and five RBI’s, including 2-11 in the knockout stages of the competition.

X / MadDogRadio

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The Yankees will be one of the 30 team who are desperate to make a deep-playoff run after their own World Series heartache in 2024.

Once the juggernaut of baseball, the Yankees have not added to their tally of 27 World Series’ victories since 2009, and a lot of pressure lies on Judge’s shoulders.

But for Pujols, he is not concerned, and he thinks it’s only a matter of time before Judge really breaks out in clutch situations.

“Sooner or later, it’s going to click,” Pujols added.

“He’s still one of the best in the game. I will take him on my team, and if I am building a team, I’d be the first guy I would pick to have on my team.

“When it comes to those situations, it’s just I have to really ask him if he thinks a little differently, because I don’t know. Everybody has a different approach at the plate.

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“Maybe he presses a little bit. Who knows? I don’t know. But like I say, he’s definitely a guy that I will put on my team 100 percent.”

Judge will be looking to join Shohei Ohtani as the only players in MLB history to win three-consecutive MVP’s.

With Pujols potentially in his ear, Yankees fans will be hoping Judge can increase his clutch gene and the Yankees can overcome the Dodgers to win their 28th title.

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