PHOENIX -- Aaron Judge is going back on the injured list, meaning the Yankees must navigate the end of the regular season without their captain -- and potentially part of the playoffs.
Judge will be placed on the 10-day injured list with a right calf strain on Saturday, the team announced, with a corresponding roster move to be made at that time.
“The reality is, we’ve had to play a lot of the season this year without him,” manager Aaron Boone said. “There’s no replacing a player who is as great as Aaron Judge, but we have high expectations. Those don’t change now.”
Judge had an MRI performed on Thursday in Phoenix that revealed the strain. Boone said he would not provide the severity of the strain, nor offer an estimate for Judge’s expected return.
Asked if Judge would return for the playoffs, Boone replied: “I don’t know.”
“I don’t have a timeline on him,” Boone said. “I’m not going to predict anything. We’ll just obviously treat it and see what transpires.”
Generally, even a Grade 1 calf strain requires two to three weeks to recover.
At the very least, the timing means Judge will be inactive not only for this weekend’s series against the D-backs, but also a four-game showdown against the Rays next week at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees entered play Friday trailing Tampa Bay by five games in the American League East.
Infielder/outfielder Max Schuemann is traveling to Phoenix and will meet the Yankees for Saturday’s game. Judge was not available to speak to reporters before Friday’s series opener against the Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
“He’s a guy that wants to be out here every day,” Cody Bellinger said of Judge. “He wants to be on the field and help us win. It’s definitely frustrating news, especially when you work so hard for so long to get back, and then something happens. I’m frustrated for him. Hopefully it’s something small and quick.”
Judge’s earliest possible return date would be the final regular-season game on Sept. 27 vs. Baltimore. The American League Wild Card Series is set to begin on Sept. 29. At present, that would see the Yankees hosting the Red Sox in the Bronx.
“Missing Judge, it hurts. We all know he’s the best hitter in the game,” Bellinger said. “For us in here, our mindset is, we’re going to have to find a way. I think the talent in this locker room speaks for itself. I’m fully confident that we have enough talent in here that we can go out and win, and beat anybody.”
That task will be more difficult without Judge, who was lifted for a sixth-inning pinch-hitter in the Yankees’ 5-4, 13-inning loss to the Twins at Target Field on Wednesday.
Judge said he felt stiffness in his lower right leg during the first inning.
“I tried to kind of play it off and see how long we could go, because these games are important down the stretch,” Judge said on Wednesday. “But kind of talking it over, I thought it'd be the right move to come out, so I don't cost the team on the field or cost the team on the basepaths.”
It has been an injury-marred season for Judge, the reigning American League MVP, as he's batted .241/.360/.511 with 18 homers and 41 RBIs in 66 games.
Judge missed most of the summer with a fractured right rib, believed to be sustained on April 26 in Houston. He played with the injury for about a month before landing on the injured list after a May 31 game against the Athletics in West Sacramento.
Bypassing a Minor League rehab assignment, Judge returned on Sept. 8 against the Rockies. He was 4-for-23 (.174) with a homer in six games.
Boone said he would not second-guess the decision to have Judge skip the rehab assignment, noting, “These things happen with a rehab assignment or without one. We did everything we could to try and give him, and ourselves, the best chance for it to be a good outcome.”