June 19, 2024, 05:03 pm ET
NEW YORK — Aaron Judge was out of the New York Yankees‘ starting lineup Wednesday against the Baltimore Orioles, one night after a pitch hit him in the left hand.
However, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Judge was feeling better and even took a few swings in the indoor batting cage.
“I think it’s day to day,” Boone said. “It was probably close (Wednesday).”
“But it definitely still hurts quite a bit there, so I don’t want him to go out and compromise something just to get over it, just start a bad habit or something,” he added. “So I hope to continue to make improvements today and we’ll see (Thursday).”
Trent Grisham replaced Judge in center field and batted ninth. Yankees ace Gerrit Cole made his season debut after recovering from a right elbow injury.
Judge was hit by a 94.1 mph fastball from Baltimore starter Albert Suarez during New York’s 4-2 victory Tuesday night. The slugger left the game an inning later, but X-rays and a CT scan were negative, so it appears he avoided a serious injury.
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“I think we were both a little open to (playing on Wednesday). And finally I said, ‘I think we should take the day. It doesn’t hurt, in the grand scheme of things.'” Boone said. “I hope it serves you well, also for your entire body.”
Judge is hitting .302 and leads the major leagues with 26 home runs and 64 RBIs. The 32-year-old outfielder is a five-time All-Star and was the American League Most Valuable Player in 2022 after hitting 62 home runs to break the American League record of 61 set by Roger Maris in 1961.
Judge missed 45 games with a broken right wrist after being hit by a 93.4 mph pitch from Kansas City’s Jakob Junis on July 26, 2018.
“I feel better after getting some good news,” Judge said Tuesday night after returning to Yankee Stadium from New York-Presbyterian Hospital. “It’s a big relief. Just getting hit there a couple of years ago and breaking your wrist, you never know what’s going to happen. So finding out it’s not fractured, not broken, it’s definitely a sigh of relief.”
Another big star, Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers, fractured his left hand Sunday when he was hit by a pitch from Dan Altavilla of the Kansas City Royals and is expected to miss six to eight weeks.
“Anytime you get hit 94, 95 up and in, especially in the hands where there are so many little bones,” Judge said, “you never know what’s going to happen or what it’s going to be.”
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