JUDGE-MENT DAY
SLUGGER LEAVES GAME IN YANKS’ WIN
It keeps getting worse for Yankees, who beat Royals, 9-2, but lose Aaron Judge for what will likely be an extended stint on injured list.
The roar quieted quickly.
The sight of Yankees head trainer Steve Donohue running out onto the field to meet Aaron Judge at first base sent a murmur throughout Yankee Stadium. The dugout went quiet and so did the video room where guys were getting ready for atbats.
Of all the blows the Yankees have taken — and survived — this season, this could be the biggest. Aaron Judge left Saturday’s 9-2 win over the Royals in the sixth inning with what the team announced as a left oblique injury.
Aaron Boone did not know
the extent of the injury after the game, but said it is unlikely that the Yankee slugger will avoid a stint on the injured list. Even the ever optimistic Yankee manager couldn’t downplay the impact.
“Look it’s Aaron Judge, he’s one of the great players in the game. Such a key figure to our club, not only just between the lines, but what he means to us in the room,” Boone said, before returning to the company line. “He’ll be part of continuing to lead us forward as a group. This is not a time we’re going to feel sorry for ourselves. We’re coming off a good win
today and that will be the expectation tomorrow and another opportunity for another guy to do his job.”
The Yankees (10-10) have already survived a majorleague leading 13 injuries so far this season.
The win over the Royals (714) was their second straight and their fourth in the last five games. After injuries to key cogs in their offense, rotation and bullpen, they have gotten contributions from fill-in players to battle back to .500 for the first time since April 8.
But an injury to Judge, who has played in every one of the Yankees games this season, strikes the heart of this club.
“He’s irreplaceable, what he brings on a daily basis, not just offensively with his bats, ability to get on base, but his defense, his energy, his enthusiasm makes everybody around him better,” Brett Gardner said. “He’ll still be around and find ways to do that, we might be without him for a little bit.
“We’ll just see what kind of news we get and hope for the best, obviously our depth is going to get tested a little more.”
The problem is the Yankees outfield depth was already threadbare.
Aaron Hicks is still working his way back from chronic lower back pain that he began dealing with in early March. Giancarlo Stanton has been on the IL since April 1 with a left biceps strain and said Saturday he does not yet feel 100%.
The Yankees top outfield prospect Estevan Florial, who was impressive in spring training, suffered a broken wrist at the end of March and just had his cast removed. The Yankees have Trey Amburgey, who is slashing .296/ .333/.407 and Billy Burns (.206/.289/.353) at Triple-A who play all three outfield positions, but neither are on the 40-man roster.
Concerns about the outfield depth forced the Yankees to make a late-March trade for Mike Tauchman.
Because Hicks’ back was so slow to heal and with concerns about the 35-year-old Gardner’s workload, the Yankees went out and made a trade for a veteran, reliable outfielder. They gave up a good left-handed pitching prospect in Phillip Diehl for Tauchman.
Saturday, he played center field to give Gardner a day off, and he hit is third majorleague home run, his second in as many days. Tauchman’s homer highlighted a four-run fourth and a four-homer game for the Yankees.
DJ LeMahieu followed with a solo shot, his first home run of the season. That snapped an 0-for-15 streak for LeMahieu and was the first time this year the Yankees had back-to-back home runs.
Judge hit his team-leading fifth home run in the first inning of the game and Clint Frazier matched him with his fifth in the second.
The injuries to Stanton and Hicks did open the door for Tauchman and Frazier.
“We’ve had a lot of guys out, prior to whatever happened to Aaron,” Frazier said. “Obviously this season is not going the way we probably want, the injuries keep coming up. But we have guys trying to go out and play their part.
“We’ve won four out of the last five that’s something we can build off right now.”
But much of that was built on Judge’s shoulders. This injury could be a crack in the foundation.