Aaron Judge sits out opener against Red Sox with calf stiffness
The Yankees' Aaron Judge, second from right, stands in the dugout during the second inning against the Pirates in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. Credit: AP/Gene J. Puskar
BOSTON — First things first.
If Thursday night had been a playoff game, or even a key September game against a contender, Aaron Judge would have been in the lineup.
But with the AL East-leading Yankees bringing a 14-game lead into the game against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, they felt no need to take any chances with their best player.
And so Judge was not in the lineup, sitting with what Aaron Boone first called “lower-body soreness.” Later, when pressed, he specified that it had to do with the outfielder’s calves.
“He just gets a little heavy and tight more than anything,” Boone said before the game. “Just something that I don’t want to mess with, especially where we are in the season, I don’t want to become a larger issue so hopefully something we’ll get out ahead of a little bit.”
Judge, hitting .287 with a .993 OPS and an MLB-leading 30 homers, was coming off a 3-for-4 night in Pittsburgh on Wednesday that included his third career grand slam.
“Nothing’s glaring to me,” general manager Brian Cashman said before the game of Judge not being in the lineup for a game against the Red Sox. “Especially when you’re in a position to be careful [with a big division lead] and play things safe to make sure people rejuvenate. I think it’s a smart play by Boonie.”
Rizzo improving
Anthony Rizzo sat out a third straight game with lower-back stiffness, but he said he doesn’t anticipate it causing him to miss the kind of time it typically does — “six to eight days,” he said — when it flares up.
“I feel good. I’ve dealt with this in years past and I just feel like we’ve been ahead of it big time,” said Rizzo, who is in a 4-for-35 skid but has hit 22 home runs. “[Wednesday] I made a lot of progress and today I’m making a lot of progress . . . I know I went on the IL for it once, that was an April [in 2018], to be super-cautious just because it was April. I don’t foresee that happening now. I think it’s just day-to-day. Even today it’s way better than it was yesterday. Back pain is the worst, but the progress we’ve made with the treatment is great.”
Cash: Judge a marvel
The Yankees avoided an arbitration hearing with Judge a couple of weeks ago when the sides compromised in the middle of their filing at a $19 million salary for this season. As for the seven-year extension worth $213.5 million that Judge turned down before the season — which would have amounted to $230.5 million over eight years, including the arbitration figure Judge submitted— Cashman said what Judge has done this season, essentially betting on himself, has been impressive.
Despite a recent slump, Judge has 29 homers and 62 RBIs in his last 67 games. “Obviously, the season he’s having has been remarkable,” Cashman said. “No one wants him to win the MVP more than we do. We want our players to be the best they can possibly be, and right now he’s standing tall. We’re proud of him for what he’s done thus far, and we look forward to him leading us the whole way hopefully. Him with his teammates.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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