Aaron Judge calls Yankees out with playoff hopes dwindling

The captain of the New York Yankees won't tolerate the big-spending club missing out on the playoffs without a fight. 

"We’re not showing up, that’s what it comes down to," All-Star slugger Aaron Judge said following Tuesday's 5-0 loss at the Atlanta Braves, per Max Goodman of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. "We’re not showing up when we need to. Especially down the stretch right now. We got every opportunity to keep ourselves in the race. We’re not capitalizing when we need to."

When it was reported last week that Aaron Boone may be managing for his job through the end of the regular season, the 59-55 Yankees were four-and-a-half games back in the race for a wild-card postseason berth. New York heads into Wednesday's MLB action at 60-60, in last place in the American League East standings and sitting six-and-a-half games back in the battle for a wild-card spot. 

The Yankees have lost four straight and were outscored by the Braves 16-3 over the past two contests. 

"I think it comes down to the execution," Judge continued about the latest woes endured by a Yankees squad that hasn't teased going on a significant run since the completion of the All-Star break. "Get a pitch and not being able to do something with it. Get guys on base, not moving them over, not driving them in. I think it’s just execution right now."

As of Wednesday morning, FanGraphs gave the Yankees a 3.1% chance of making the playoffs and an astonishing 0.1% chance of winning the World Series. 

"It’s not where we want to be," Judge directly said about the club's place in the standings. "We’ve got a job to do every single day we walk in this clubhouse. Tomorrow we walk in here, we’ve got a job to do. We gotta show up and produce ... We gotta show up tomorrow and bring it."

The call to action from the reigning AL Most Valuable Player is admirable. It may also have come far too late as it pertains to the Yankees' playoff hopes and Boone's status with the organization beyond Oct. 1.