Chad Jennings

cjennings@lohud.com

In the past two and a half weeks, Aaron Judge has hit eight home runs. He homered in back-to-back games. He homered in three straight games. He hit two home runs in one game.

As of June 2, after an 0-for-3 games, he was hitting .221 for the year. Since then, Judge has reached base in 20 of 22, going 30-for-79 with 20 RBIs and 17 walks. His season on-base percentage has risen more than 65 points (.285-.351), his batting average is up to .266, and he now leads the International League in homers. Yesterday he added another two hit game with a walk and his first Triple-A triple.

Like most of us, Rob Refsnyder has been following along from a distance, marveling at the box scores.

Unlike most of us, Refsnyder has been talking to Judge almost daily -- at least every other day -- throughout the hot streak.

Judge and Refsnyder are close friends, and what follows is a conversation with Refsnyder about his conversations with Judge. It’s a glimpse into the mind of two young hitters who are rooting for one another and trying to help one another.

What’s it like to be on a hot streak like this? What sort of work goes into results like this? What’s the mindset of a prospect on the verge?

In a conversation that took place on Sunday morning, Refsnyder began to answer some of those questions But first he had a question of his own.

“What did he do last night?”

He hit another home run (on Saturday).

“Did he really? Oh my gosh.”

Most of us are watching Aaron from afar. You’ve been doing that as well, but in communication with him. Does it ever come up that he’s on this streak?

(Refsnyder laughs; it was a dumb question)

“I mean, we try to hold one another accountable. Sometimes when you get into these grooves, you kind of forget the reason and what adjustment you make. Honestly, it can be one pitch or one at-bat where you start to decline or you don’t feel good in the box. Honestly, you have months where you step in the box and you know you’re going to get two or three hits. It’s honestly that feeling. And then there are some feelings where it’s like, the best I can do right now is walk or get some guy over because I can’t do anything offensively. It’s the weirdest, most troubling feeling or it’s the best feeling in the world, so you’re always searching for that kind of feeling in the cage or in the box. And right now, it feels like he’s got that, for sure.

“And the difference, with normal human beings, it’s: I’m going to get a hit or two tonight. With Judge it’s like: I’m going to get a double and a home run tonight. But he’s just trying to keep it simple. He’s just trying to be on time, because if he’s on time, he’s got a chance to do some damage, obviously.

“He made an adjustment to get his hands – I think it was something with his shoulders to get his hands adjusted, to make sure his hands get to the ball as efficiently as possible. You get so many offspeed pitches in Triple-A, it’s ridiculous. It’s so unrealistic (compared) to this type of pitching. You get a lot more fastballs.”

You mean, up here (in the big leagues) you get more fastballs?

“Yeah. So many more fastballs and truer pitch sequences. In Triple-A it’s like, guys have five pitches and they could throw them at any time, so some guys start leaning out over the plate. They lose their posture and their swing plane is all messed up. So I think he’s just trying to stick to staying taller and getting his hands to the ball more efficiently.”

“Aaron and I are very similar in that, there’s one kind of key to focus on, and it kind of gets us going.”

When you say hold one another accountable, you mean you actively discuss what’s working so that he remembers what it is; so that it’s in his head?

“Yeah. Honestly, he’s (maybe) the closest guy now that Taylor (Dugas) is out of the organization. He’s one of my closest friends, so he would hold me accountable if I was maybe wasn’t bringing the energy level. Because it’s a long season, and I think you have to have friends and teammates hold you accountable. The same thing with me if I saw Aaron maybe not working the way I think he should be working, (I would say something because) I think that’s what makes a team, a team. That’s what Aaron and I are always trying to do.

“Right now, it’s just making sure that he’s writing in his notebook and he’s doing everything that he should be. Honestly, we could be talking about how Aaron has gone 0-for-12 with 12 strikeouts, and (we have to) make sure that he knows what’s going to get him back to even as quickly as possible.”

So when you talk about holding someone accountable, I would think a guy on a tear like this, there aren’t many accountability issues.

“Exactly. (In this case, it's) accountability with making sure he’s doing the work every day that he’s supposed to even though he’s on this hot streak. Just to maintain it -- whatever he needs to maintain it -- and making sure he’s enjoying this moment. There are so many highs and lows. On the surface – I think Carlos (Beltran) was talking about it – on the surface you shouldn’t show too many emotions, but deep down, you’re happy or you’re sad and you’re going through all these kind of things. You’re trying not to let the fans and the media and the coaching staff see that.

“I’m making sure that when he gets home, he’s really enjoying everything, because what he’s doing, it’s special. It really is special.”