Aaron Judge hasn't played for the New York Yankees in over a month, but he still managed to stir up some drama against the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday.
The Yankees finally snapped out of their recent offensive skid, erupting for 12 runs and 14 hits in Thursday's series finale at Tropicana Field. They did much of their damage against Rays starter Drew Rasmussen, shelling him for six runs and seven hits in 2 1/3 innings.
All six of those runs came in the third inning, when Judge mocked Rasmussen by making the manager's "pitching change" arm signal from New York's dugout.
Aaron Judge calls for the bullpen as the Yankees knock out Drew Rasmussen in the third inning pic.twitter.com/I00XsppBij
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) July 9, 2026
Tampa Bay fans didn't appreciate Judge trolling their pitcher. Not only is Judge hurt and had nothing to do with Thursday's outcome, but he's also struggled mightily against Rasmussen in his career with a paltry .347 OPS against him. The Yankees have also been terrible lately and have fallen behind the Rays in the standings, so the move seemed a little tone deaf on Judge's part.
Judge is typically reserved and low-key, but he does like to troll his opponents sometimes, as he did by blasting "New York, New York" by the Boston Red Sox clubhouse during the 2018 ALDS.