Yankees' Aaron Judge diagnosed with flexor strain, placed on 10-day IL

Yahoo

7 hours ago

The New York Yankees are losing their MVP to the injured list.
Aaron Judge, New York's superstar slugger and leading candidate in the AL MVP race, was placed on the IL with a flexor strain in his right elbow on Sunday. There is no tear to the UCL.
'All in all, we got good news today,' Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, via The Associated Press. 'I think all of us kind of feared the worst.'
The expectation is that Judge will need only 10 days away from the team. When he is available again, he will ease back into the lineup as a designated hitter, Boone said, while beginning to throw before eventually returning to the outfield. He won't jump to first base or anywhere else in the lineup until he's ready to resume his spot in the outfield.
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Judge sat out Saturday's 9-4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies due to an "elbow issue," as manager Aaron Boone described it beforehand. Boone added that Judge "couldn't really throw from the outfield" and underwent an MRI.
It's unclear exactly when Judge initially suffered the injury. Judge was seen wincing and gripping his right hand after a throw during Tuesday night's win over the Toronto Blue Jays. The following day he did not play right field but served as designated hitter. Boone said the slugger was "OK."
Since Tuesday, Judge was 1 for 10 at the plate; the lone hit was a home run in an 8-4 defeat to the Blue Jays on Wednesday. Saturday's game was the first he's missed all season.
Judge is in an AL MVP race with Seattle Mariners star catcher Cal Raleigh. In 103 games, Judge leads the majors in batting average (.342), OPB (.449), slugging (.711) and OPS (1.160). Raleigh leads the majors in homers (39) and entered Saturday trailing Judge's 84 RBI by one.
The Yankees finish a three-game series with the Phillies on Sunday afternoon and finish their homestand with four games against the Tampa Bay Rays. They will then hit the road to face the Miami Marlins and Texas Rangers.
With Judge now sidelined, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that the team will start working out Giancarlo Stanton in the outfield this week so he can be an option there in the meantime. Stanton, who made his season debut earlier this month amid elbow injuries of his own, has been the team's designated hitter. He last played in the outfield in 2023.
"There's the feeling that if he just DH'd now, that he probably would not compromise his UCL," Boone said, via ESPN. "Obviously, throwing would. That said, there is a gripping component to it and it's probably, obviously, not like the defensive side, but probably somewhat affecting him offensively, too.
"And then there's the [Giancarlo] component, too. So I think, when you add it all up, this makes the most sense to give this time to calm down a little bit, hopefully heal and then hopefully put us in a better position long term on it."
How will general manager Brian Cashman react to the loss of Judge? The MLB trade deadline is July 31 and the Yankees are now six games behind the Blue Jays for the AL East lead and lost five of eight games since the All-Star break.
One player who won't be called up to replace Judge is outfield prospect Spencer Jones, who has been the best hitter in the minor leagues this season. Despite a 1.116 OPS at Double-A and Triple-A, the New York Post's Jon Heyman reports Jones won't be called up.
That would naturally invite trade deadline speculation around Jones, who looms as a notable chip for the Yankees, but Heyman added Jones isn't going anywhere barring an absolutely ridiculous return. There is high excitement around Jones given his success in the minors, though prospect analysts have concerns about contact rates that have led to a 31.1% strikeout rate this year.