New York Yankees

Watch Yankees slugger Aaron Judge crush the first mammoth HR of spring training

Published Feb. 25, 2017 10:00 a.m. ET

Chris Bahr

It didn’t take long for Yankees prospect Aaron Judge to make a statement in Grapefruit League play. One of the fabled “Baby Bombers,” Judge took aim at the scoreboard in left-center field at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Friday.

Judge absolutely hammered the first pitch he saw from Phillies lefty Elniery Garcia:

Judge, who will turn 25 in April, is competing for the starting job in right field this spring – and he’s off to a strong start. In 27 games (95 plate appearances) with New York last season, he hit .179/.263/.345 with four homers, two doubles and 10 RBI but had an alarming 42 strikeouts.

"If he gets the barrel of the bat to the ball, he's going to do a lot of damage," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said, via MLB.com. "There are going to be some strikeouts, and you can live with some strikeouts, but this is a guy that could be extremely productive -- just because of the raw power that he has -- and do significant damage."