Major League Baseball’s current home run leader, Aaron Judge, is famous for his power hits that never fail to impress fans. However, hidden behind the success of this towering slugger is a coach named “Teacherman” aka Richard Schenck.
Sharing his story at Casa De Klub, Aaron Judge recounts how he first crossed paths with Richard. It happened through his agent, David Matranga after the 2016 MLB season when Judge struggled with a .179 batting average despite starting strong with home runs in his first two games. This made the six-time All-Star humble and he badly craved improvement.
When Matranga proposed the idea of working with a hitting coach, who would help Judge bounce back from his struggles, Judge was willing to give it a shot. Judge recalled telling his agent-
“I will take anything. If this guy tells me to stand on my head and hit in the box, and it gets me to hit .300, I’ll do it.”
Accepting the opportunity eagerly, Judge and fellow player Rob Refsnyder, who shared the same agency, made their way to Arizona to meet Teacherman and spent a week training at a batting cage facility called D-BATs.
As per the Yankees captain, his now-hitting coach listened attentively to the insights on his hitting technique while examining video footage of his swings.
After understanding Judge’s perspective, Teacherman presented a different point of view and compared the Yankees slugger’s swings to Barry Bonds and Manny Ramirez. Moreover, the coach also pointed out the veterans’ techniques which set them apart and made them MLB legends.
Acknowledging the need for change, Judge was open to Teacherman’s suggestions.
“He gave me a couple of tips, saying, “Try to hit a popup. Get behind this baseball.” He was giving me certain cues. I took a couple of swings off the tee, and I’ve never seen the ball jump like that.”
See that one legged pelvic tilt. All the way through launch.
Checkmate.
RIP 50/50 pic.twitter.com/mW473l6nAU
— Richard Schenck, JFD PPP LQC TTE (@Teacherman1986) July 13, 2024
All the greats did/do it. pic.twitter.com/91kql8ORGY
— Richard Schenck, JFD PPP LQC TTE (@Teacherman1986) July 13, 2024
These adjustments resulted in noticeable improvements and Judge recounted hitting balls that landed at the corner of the net- a stark contrast to his previous line drives that often led to easy outs.
Charged up with confidence, the 2022 AL MVP also foresaw a breakthrough season (which eventually happened in 2022 with 62 dingers by breaking Roger Maris’ AL HR record). Furthermore, over time, Teacherman’s strategies offered Judge the adaptability he had been missing.
“He gave me this adjustability where I could be ready for 90-95 mph. If he threw 97 mph, my bat was in the zone for a long time, so I could get a base hit to right field and think.”
Having said that, Richard Schenck aka the Teacherman criticized the New York Yankees player development system earlier this month.
Aaron Judge’s Hitting Coach Slammed Yankees’ Hitting Strategies
Aaron Judge, the standout player for the New York Yankees is a force to be reckoned with in the batter’s box. While he’s been on fire with his bat, the Yankees as a whole have hit a slump lately.
In light of that, Judge’s hitting coach, Richard Schenck voiced his opinion on X (formerly Twitter) and questioned the team’s ability to nurture young offensive talent while commending Aaron Judge. In response to a post highlighting Judge’s performance amidst the team’s struggles, Richard wrote-
“They’ve lost 13 out of 18 while he’s hitting like an MVP The Yankees offensive player development is terrible.”
They’ve lost 13 out of 18 while he’s hitting like an MVP
The Yankees offensive player development is terrible.
— Richard Schenck, JFD PPP LQC TTE (@Teacherman1986) July 4, 2024
Interestingly, Aaron Judge himself mentioned that he was unaware of Schenck’s remarks. The Yankees manager Aaron Boone also played down the criticism and mentioned that he wasn’t fazed by comments coming from a source outside the organization.
