Aaron Judge will not play for the New York Yankees in the American League Wild Card series against the Boston Red Sox after the club left him off the 26-man roster submitted Tuesday, ESPN (opens in new tab) and the New York Post (opens in new tab) report.
Judge has not played since straining his right calf on Sept. 16, his seventh game back from a fractured rib that cost him more than three months. Manager Aaron Boone had described the calf injury as a “moderate grade” strain and downplayed Wild Card availability, ESPN (opens in new tab) notes. Judge took live batting practice Monday and homered in a session, but did not run the bases — a gap that made a return to right field unrealistic and left only a pinch-hit role that the club reserved for Giancarlo Stanton.
Stanton, activated from the 60-day injured list Tuesday after missing more than five months with multiple calf strains, is expected to pinch-hit. Outfielder Trent Grisham also made the roster after a September hamstring strain; left-hander Ryan Weathers (forearm) did not. The Yankees will carry 16 position players and 10 pitchers for the best-of-three at Yankee Stadium — an unusual tilt toward bench flexibility against Boston’s left-handed pitching, the Post reports.
New York finished 93–68, second in the AL, despite Judge appearing in only 66 of 161 games. The Yankees went 41–25 with him in the lineup and about a run per game worse without him, ESPN (opens in new tab) reports. Should they advance, adding Judge for an AL Division Series against Tampa Bay remains possible; ALDS Game 1 is slated for Saturday at Tropicana Field.
Rivalry stakes are immediate: the Yankees and Red Sox open the Wild Card on Tuesday night in the Bronx without New York’s three-time AL MVP in uniform.