Yankees place Aaron Judge on 10-day injured list with right hip strain
Aaron Judge strikes out in the first inning against the Teas Rangers on Thursday. Credit: AP/Tony Gutierrez
The Yankees shelved hopes that Aaron Judge could get back from a right hip strain in just a few days and placed their star outfielder on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 28, before Monday night’s first pitch against Cleveland at the Stadium.
It may represent the biggest blow to a team that has been beset with injuries and dropped to 15-15 with a 3-2 loss to the Guardians. The Yankees have 13 players on the injured list.
Aaron Boone was asked what went into the decision to put Judge on the IL and replied, “A lot of conversation. Aaron really didn’t want to.” He added that Judge should be ready to come off the IL as soon as he is eligible to do so.
“There was a lot of conversation that he was very much a part of,” Boone said. “I just felt like we’re probably going to get to a situation where we might have been in play on the weekend and I didn’t want this to turn into . . . something where he’s playing at 80% or 85% and he compromises himself and it turns into something serious. Ultimately that’s what I kind of [thought] in talking with him and making that decision, as hard as it was.”
Judge will miss the three-game series against the Guardians as well as the three-game weekend series against the first-place Rays in Florida. The first day he will be able to return is May 8, when the Yankees host Oakland.
Franchy Cordero was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and was in the clubhouse before the game.
Boone said at his pregame news conference that Judge would do a light workout with throwing and possibly hitting before the club decided whether to put him on the IL. At that point, he wasn’t confident in either direction.
Judge, the newly anointed team captain after signing a nine-year, $360 million contract in the offseason, never made it sound as if this could be an injured list situation, at first suggesting it would be a matter of days before he returned.
Judge played in all of the Yankees’ first 26 games and is batting .261 with six homers and 14 RBIs. The Yankees scored four runs in the three games he missed in Texas, all losses.
“I think Aaron’s also being realistic, too,” Boone said. “He understands what’s at stake and what’s important. We’re having real conversations . . . [We] want to understand where we are in the season, with whatever, 130 games to go, and obviously, how important he is. We want to make sure we’re in a good spot.”
Waiting on the decision meant a high-risk/high-reward investment by the Yankees — weighing playing with a short bench for several games against getting the 2022 AL MVP back before the series with the Rays. Boone, however, saw the high risk as rushing Judge back.
After injuring the hip Wednesday on a headfirst slide into third base against the Twins, Judge came out of Thursday’s win over the Rangers in Arlington during the fourth inning with what the team termed “right hip discomfort.” Boone said that night that he removed Judge rather than risk further aggravating the injury.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
