Yankee slugger Aaron Judge will miss the team’s Thursday night matchup with their rival Red Sox, as the 30-year-old is dealing with lower body soreness.
Skipper Aaron Boone told the “The Michael Kay Show” that Judge would miss the opening contest of a 4 game series against Boston, which will begin on Thursday night at 7:10 p.m. eastern time.
The news comes after Judge hit his 30th home run of the season against the Pirates on Wednesday night with a Grand Slam during the Bronx Bombers’ rout of Pittsburgh, when they won by a whopping 16–0 margin.
His long ball tied his own record in 2017, along with Alex Rodriguez’s 2007 performance, for the second-most homers before the All Star break in Yankees history, according to MLB.com.
That hit, which came off a sinker in the top of the 8th inning against Pittsburgh lefty Manny Bañuelos, marked Judge’s 30th home run of the season (and his 3rd hit of the game, following a single and a double earlier in the contest).
Judge lleads the MLB in homers this year, with 3 more long balls than the second-place Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies.
His 64 RBIs and 87 hits also lead the Pinstripes, who boast a league-best 59–23 record, 5.5 games ahead of the Houston Astros heading into Thursday night’s matchups.
For more coverage of Aaron Judge and the Yankees, head to amNY.com.
The Red Sox sit at a respectable 45–37 record, which puts them 14 games behind the Yankees in the AL East.
Judge is slated to hit free agency for the first time in his career after the season ends, and the Yankees front office is well aware that keeping him would require a significant amount of money. The two sides agreed to a $19 million contract for this season, which helped them avoid a messy arbitration hearing late last month.
His absence in Thursday night’s lineup will be a severe blow to the team, which has relied on power hitting to propel them thus far this year — though Boone made it clear that they were not worried about any long-term problems with their star slugger.
“He’s just been dealing with some kind of lower body soreness thing,” Boone said. “Just something we’re not going to mess with.”
The manager also said that the team would activate Judge off the bench, but will try to avoid that due to his injury, according to ESPN’s Dan Graca.
