Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is joining fellow masher Giancarlo Stanton on the injured list. Manager Aaron Boone told reporters on their daily Zoom session that Judge is going to be placed on the injured list due to a strained calf. The language used was "very slight strain," but it's enough to land Judge on the list. The Yankees have officially announced the move.
Judge was removed from Tuesday's game and sat Wednesday with Boone saying the Yankees just wanted to get in front of some lower-body issues, but it appears they have persisted.
Still, they could simply be exercising extra caution with the star right fielder. The Yankees are 12-6 and it's pretty hard to see a scenario where they don't just easily dance to the playoffs, likely one of the top seeds. SportsLine right now has them with a 99.7 percent chance of making the playoffs and 75.1 percent chance of taking the AL East. Keeping Judge and Stanton healthy for the long term is much more a priority in this short season than playing through injuries.
Judge, 28, has been destroying the ball this year. He's hitting .290/.343/.758 (194 OPS+) with nine homers and 20 RBI. He leads the majors in home runs, RBI and slugging while pacing the AL in runs scored. Oh, and he also leads the AL in position player WAR at 1.3.
If there's a silver lining here for Yankees fans, it's possible this finally leads to regular playing time for Clint Frazier, who started in right Wednesday and is in the lineup at designated hitter Friday night. He pretty much hits wherever he is and went 3 for 4 with a home run on Wednesday. Mike Tauchman is an option in right field.
