Boone on Judge, injuries: 'Adversity is a reality'

April 21st, 2019

NEW YORK – The Yankees added a big name to their crowded injured list Sunday, officially placing on the 10-day injured list with a strained left oblique.

Manager Aaron Boone called the strain “pretty significant,” and although the manager declined to offer any type of timetable, the slugger figures to miss at least a month and possibly more.

“These next couple weeks will kind of be a lot of just the healing process,” Boone said. “Once we get through these first couple weeks, we’ll have a better timeline for you. It would be kind of vague right now.”

With Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Hicks also sidelined with their own injuries, the Yankees’ starting outfield currently consists of Brett Gardner, Clint Frazier and Mike Tauchman, with Tyler Wade serving as the team’s fourth outfielder.

“When you’ve been in this game long enough, adversity is a reality,” Boone said. “It’s going to come in different shapes, sizes and forms throughout the course of the season and you never really know. You’ve got to be able to deal with it and roll with it. I feel like our club, our organization more than anyone in the game, is capable of dealing with these adversities. I feel like we have, we will, and the expectation doesn’t change: We expect to go out and win games.”

In addition to Judge, Stanton and Hicks, the Yankees’ 10-day IL includes a number of other notable names including Gary Sanchez, Luis Severino, Dellin Betances, Troy Tulowitzki, Miguel Andujar and Greg Bird. Didi Gregorius, Jacoby Ellsbury and Jordan Montgomery are on the team’s 60-day IL.

“I’m looking forward to our guys coming back, no question,” Boone said. “But we embrace the opportunity to have guys that can play significant roles for us stepping up and contributing. That excites me to a degree. The opportunity to see guys get an opportunity, to try and be a part of helping them continue to develop up here and impact games, that’s exciting. You feel like this is a great opportunity for us. It can make the end all that much more sweet.”