Aaron Judge Downplays Yankees Criticism from Personal Hitting Coach amid Viral Post

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has responded to criticism of the team from his personal hitting coach.

"It doesn't involve me, to be honest," Judge said, via MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. "It's somebody else making a comment. I'm not going to comment for somebody else. …I've got no control over what another person does. It's out of my control. I've got nothing for you."

Richard Schenck, Judge's personal coach, called New York's offensive player development "terrible" in a social media post on Thursday.

Despite the Yankees' 5-13 record over their past 18 contests, Judge has thrived. Over that span, the 32-year-old has hit .344 with seven home runs and 21 RBIs to go along with an incredible 1.136 OPS.

However, New York has continued to struggle. While the Yankees still own a commendable 54-35 overall record, their recent slide has caused them to fall behind the Baltimore Orioles for the AL East lead.

Juan Soto has performed admirably during his first season in the Bronx, racking up 21 homers and 63 RBIs with a .300/.438/.568 slash line. Both Soto and Judge were recently named All-Star starters, although the Yankees have struggled to get production from the rest of their lineup as of late.

In the month of June, New York ranked No. 17 among all teams in the majors with a .243 batting average (via MLB.com).

However, Yankees manager Aaron Boone didn't appear to be concerned about Schenck's comments.

"People are going to say things, and certainly everyone is entitled to their opinion," Boone said, via SNY's John Healy. "Especially when you go through a tough stretch and you wear this uniform, I know people are going to take shots and things like that. You can't get all consumed with all that stuff."

While New York has lots of time to get back on track, questions about the team will only get louder if the Yankees continue to struggle while Judge excels.