New York Yankees Make Yankee Stadium Change After Aaron Judge Request

While the Yankees have been stuck in a hitting rut, the team’s home fans might have noticed that they made a big change that could help in that regard moving forward.

“Ticket buyers at Yankee Stadium may have noticed afternoon games are starting 30 minutes later than last season, which hardly seems life-altering,” Bob Klapisch reported for NJ.com. “But it’s a big deal to the Yankees who requested the change and they say it’s made a difference in preparation.”

Following the move, general manager Brian Cashman clarified that the team is free to start their home games at any time that it prefers. So when a pair of veteran sluggers in Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge were among those who asked for some more time to prepare before afternoon home games, the Yankees were quick to concede the change.

“It’s a 100 percent improvement,” Stanton told Klapisch. “For some guys, the extra sleep in their prep. For other guys, they use time here getting treatment. I like it. The extra half hour feels like an hour.”

New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge Explains Request For ‘More Rest’ Before Afternoon Games

And Judge noted that the change gives the players some extra time to recover following longer games in the night games that precede them.

“It just feels like the games are getting longer. We’ve had a couple already that’ve been close to three hours or over,” Judge said, according to Klapisch. “So any time you can get more rest after a night game, I was one of the (players) in favor of that.”

Judge is slashing .234/.337/.584 with eight home runs so far and it hasn’t looked like he has needed much more rest at the plate. But as several other key members of the lineup fall short of expectations, perhaps some extra time before their home games will begin to pay off soon.