Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is unlikely to play in the Wild Card Series after having an injection in his sore right calf, manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday.
Before the Yankees faced the Rays in a day-night doubleheader, Boone said Judge had a platelet-poor plasma injection during the team’s off-day on Monday following its return from Arizona.
“We’re planning on him not being a part of that, but we’re also at time of the year, you hear all the time with injuries, you give ranges two to four weeks, four to six weeks,” Boone said. “The range is for a reason and we’re at a point of the year where obviously we push it a little bit if that was in play but that’s a week away. I’m not expecting it, but I’m not ruling it out either.”
The Yankees will most likely play the Boston Red Sox in the first round of the postseason.
Judge was put on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a strained soleus muscle, which is in the lower part of his calf. Boone did not say what grade the strain is but described it as “moderate.”
Judge is eligible to be activated for the regular-season finale on Sunday against Baltimore but will not do much activity in the next few days.
Judge injured his calf during last Wednesday’s game at Minnesota. The eight-time All-Star was lifted in the sixth inning for a pinch hitter because of discomfort in his leg and said at the time it was a precautionary move.
Boone said symptoms persisted and an MRI revealed the strain.
Judge was 4-for-23 with 13 strikeouts and one extra-base hit in seven games after returning Sept. 8 from a broken rib, which kept him out of the lineup for more than three months.
Judge is hitting .241 with 18 homers and 41 RBIs in just 66 games this year. He hit a long homer on Sept. 14 in Minnesota and had the next game off before straining his calf.
The Yankees entered Tuesday with a 48-41 record in the games Judge has missed and a 41-25 mark in games he has played. New York also began Tuesday a loss away from being eliminated from the AL East race, setting up a second straight wild-card series against the Red Sox next week.
“We’ve played much of the year without him and for the most part, we’ve done a pretty good job,” Boone said. “So guys are used to it. Obviously you always want your best player in the mix, but we understand we’ve got a job to do and an expectation to win. I think that expectation doesn’t change with or without him. We’re expecting to go into the series and know we can beat anyone when we play our game.”
