As Aaron Judge stepped to the plate in the fifth inning on Monday, a fan below the press box begged for production. “Do something,” the fan yelled. Judge ended up walking after seven pitches. But that, as well as his eighth-inning infield single, didn’t do much to change the narrative that Judge has come up short in the postseason. After stranding three runners in the Yankees’ Game 2 loss and four in their Game 1 win over the Royals, the MVP frontrunner is now 1-for-7 with two walks and four strikeouts this October. “If I’m not hitting 1.000, I’m not feeling good,” said Judge, who lofted a ball to the warning track in the third inning on Monday. “I just gotta keep getting on base for the guys behind me. If they get on [in front of me], I gotta drive them in.” When asked about Judge’s lack of damage thus far in the series — he hit 58 homers in the regular season — Aaron Boone complimented the Royals’ series-opening starters. “They can pitch,” the manager said. “[Michael] Wacha is a tough matchup, [Cole] Ragans is another tough matchup. He’s been on base three times in the first two games. It’s not that easy. It’s baseball. Hitting is a game of failure. He’s going to get more opportunities, and I’ll continue to place my bets on him.” While Boone is confident Judge will return to his regular season self, the slugger has struggled in the postseason before. Entering Game 3 on Wednesday, Judge is a .208/.311/.449 hitter with 13 home runs and 25 RBI over 46 playoff games. His 33.8 K% is the second-highest ever among players with at least 200 postseason at-bats, and he’s 2-for-23 with zero homers and zero RBI in October since the start of the 2022 ALCS, which the Yankees lost to the Astros in four games. “He’s an elite player, so we’re pitching him tough,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “We’re trying to execute pitches, trying to move the ball around. It’s no secret that you can’t throw him the same pitch, can’t throw him fastballs in the zone. You’ve got to move the ball around, you’ve got to trust your stuff, you’ve got to change speeds. And so far, we’ve been able to do that. Every time he comes up there, you’re in danger, but our guys have good stuff, and they are attacking and executing.” Fortunately for the Yankees, Judge is not the only MVP candidate underachieving in this ALDS. Bobby Witt Jr., the presumed runner-up for the American League’s award, is 0-for-10 since the series began. The 24-year-old has struck out four times and failed to reach base. “We’ve pitched him tough,” Boone said. “So hopefully we can continue executing. Ultimately, when you have good pitching and you execute, usually that favors the pitcher. When they can execute at a high level, you’re going to get even the best of the best out sometimes. So I think it’s just that. It’s a couple games where we’ve had some success, where we’ve done some really good things pitching-wise to him. Hopefully we can continue to have a little bit of success, but we know how dangerous and good of a hitter — well-rounded hitter — he is.” Witt, playing in his first postseason, made more of an impact in Kansas City’s Wild Card matchup with the Orioles, going 3-for-9 with two RBI over the two-game series. The Royals are hoping that he and No. 3 hitter Vinnie Pasquantino — 0-for-9 with five strikeouts in the ALDS — can make a difference with the series heading back to Kansas City. However, they still managed to steal a win in the Bronx with two of their best hitters disappointing at the plate. “It doesn’t have to be from the same guys all the time,” Quatraro said. “That’s what makes a great team: that you’re not relying on one or two people.”