CLEVELAND -- When Aaron Judge walked into the New York Yankees' spring training facility in Tampa eight months ago, whether he could be a capable major leaguer was still an open question. On top of the fact that he struck out in half of his 84 at-bats in 2016, there just haven't been many 6-foot-7, 280-pound outfielders in the game's history. Some thought Aaron Judge was too big to succeed.
The Yankees were unsure of their larger-than-life rookie, and they had no intention of simply handing him the right-field job out of spring training.