TAMPA, Fla. – Outfielder Aaron Judge and third baseman Gio Urshela are back in line-up for the New York Yankees for Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Judge was kept from the New York lineup on Wednesday-evening with pain on his left side and missed Friday’s opening series against the Rays.
“Just trying to be careful here early on, don’t want this to be something that becomes a problem, and hopefully we can get past that in these days,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Saturday.
Judge had a homer, three basehits and four RBI’s in a 7-2 win against Baltimore on Tuesday-evening, but didn’t play the next day in the 4-3, 11-inning loss of the Yankees. New York had a day off on Thursday.
Boone said he thought the pain was due to “general wear and tear” for the first few days of the season. He believes the inconvenience could stem from Judge taking extra swings on Sunday while as the designated hitter.
“I don’t think he did anything specific or one thing,” Boone said. “I think it was just the gradual workload. Probably a lot of swinging, doing a lot of cage work and things like that led to some pain that he developed over time, but I don’t think there was one thing.”
Judge, the 2017 American League Rookie of the Year, missed 142 games from 2018 to ’20 and was listed at various points on the injured list for a right wrist fracture, oblique left strain, and twice for right calf strains. He also broke a rib last March, but was ready for opening day after the pandemic delayed the start of the season.
Urshela was placed on the COVID injured list on Friday due to side effects from a vaccination. He was originally in the starting line-up, but the Yankees made the change shortly before the game.
“We expected this,” Boone said. “He was a little bit under the weather, along with a few other guys on our day off. He actually came yesterday, late morning, feeling good and ready to go, and was in the original line-up. But then it started. he got it.Symptoms he felt the day before and actually, towards the end of yesterday’s game, he felt [like] herself again. And then I felt fine last night. And then just about 30 minutes ago I saw his smiling face walking past my office with the thumbs up. So we feel like he’s out of the woods and ready to go. “
Infielder Mike Ford was recalled from the alternate site and activated for the series. Any player placed on the injured COVID player list will not count towards the 40-man roster. The COVID injured list also does not require a minimum length of stay.
Also on Saturday, the Yankees activated the newly acquired Rougned Odor, who came in a deal from the Rangers on Tuesday.
Odor did not make the Rangers’ Opening Day-roster and was assigned an assignment on April 1. He is a left-handed batter and the Yankees have a predominantly right-handed line-up.
Odor is a second baseman but also played third in spring practice.
ESPN’s Marly Rivera contributed to this report.