The New York Yankees have placed superstar outfielder Aaron Judge on the injured list due to a hip injury that he suffered this past Thursday while sliding into a base, the team announced Monday. In the days since the injury, he's been working to try and get himself ready to play and avoid a stint on the IL, which leads us to believe the stay won't be long.
"I think Aaron's being realistic," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Monday (via MLB.com), before the Yankees placed Judge on the injured list. "He understands what's at stake and that it's important. So we're having real conversations. I don't want to close the door on (him) if he's ready to play in a couple days."
Judge, 31, was the AL MVP last season while leading the majors in runs, home runs, RBI, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, OPS+, total bases and WAR. He became the first AL player ever to reach 62 home runs and headed into free agency with his stock at its highest point. He came back to the Yankees on a nine-year, $360 million deal.
Through 26 games this season, Judge is hitting .261/.352/.511 (139 OPS+) with five doubles, six homers, 14 RBI, 18 runs and 0.9 WAR.
Fellow outfielders Harrison Bader and Giancarlo Stanton are also on the injured list, leaving the Yankees' outfield options as Oswaldo Cabrera, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Jake Bauers and Aaron Hicks. Willie Calhoun is another option, though he's mostly been serving as the DH. Also, it's possible Bader returns this week or early next week, which could provide a nice boost.
The barren outfield is actually a pretty bad problem for the Yankees here in the early going, especially through the lens of expected offensive production without Judge. They've lost six of their last eight and enter Monday's action tied with the Red Sox for last place in the AL East. The offense exploded for 12 runs last Wednesday, but otherwise runs have been hard to come by. They've scored two runs or fewer in seven of their last 10 games.
Overall, the Yankees are averaging 4.00 runs per game, which ranks 23rd in baseball. The teams behind them? The Rockies, A's, Guardians, Nationals, Marlins, Royals and Tigers.
This isn't exactly what was planned heading into the season for a franchise that sometimes goes by the Bronx Bombers moniker. Now without their best player, the Yankees are going to need someone else to step up.
The Yankees start a three-game series against the Guardians Monday.
