NEW YORK – Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was kicked out of the New York line-up on Wednesday night with pain in his left side.
Judge had a homer, three basehits and four RBI’s on Tuesday-evening in a 7-2 win, but wasn’t back in the line-up against the O’s the next day. New York has a day off on Thursday, allowing the right fielder to rest on consecutive days.
Manager Aaron Boone said he thought the pain was a result of “general wear and tear” for the first few days of the season. He believes the inconvenience could stem from Judge taking more swings than usual while serving as the designated hitter on Sunday.
“I just don’t want to push anything right now,” Boone said.
Judge, the 2017 AL Rookie of the Year, missed 142 games from 2018-20 and was listed at various points as injured for a right wrist fracture, a left oblique strain, and twice for right calf strains.
Boone said Judge’s current pain didn’t seem specific to the left oblique, instead calling it “general pain” on that side.
28-year-old Judge planned to join the team for pregame stretching, and Boone didn’t rule out using him as a pinch hitter. He also said the right fielder was not expected to seek an MRI or other imaging test, but he wouldn’t rule it out as a possibility.