‘Beat up’ Judge gets 1st full day off since break

Aaron Judge got his first full day off since the All-Star break on Wednesday, with Joe Girardi calling the right fielder “a little beat up.”

Perhaps that wear and tear has contributed to his sluggish start to the second half of the season.

Judge is just 7-for-41 with two homers, 11 walks and 18 strikeouts in a dozen games since the Midsummer Classic. He also didn’t start July 19, though he did pinch-hit.

It’s hardly a lengthy slump, but it’s a sharp drop-off from Judge, who was the best hitter in the game for the first 3 ¹/2 months of the season.

“I just thought he could use a day off,” Girardi said before the Yankees beat the Reds, 9-5, in The Bronx. “He’s been going hard and he’s a little physically beat up, but it’s nothing serious.”

That, coupled with the fact Wednesday was a day game after a night game and Judge ran into the right-field wall trying to make a catch in Tuesday’s win, made Girardi’s decision easier.

Girardi added Judge would be back in the lineup on Thursday.

“He’s diving, he’s running into walls,” Girardi said. “That’s what this guy does. He plays really hard.”

The manager also said he wasn’t overly concerned about Judge’s recent downturn.

“He went through a little bit of a [bad] stretch in that first week [after the break], but I think he’s been swinging the bat better,” Girardi said.

Matt Holliday had an RBI single in the seventh as he tries to snap out of the slump he’s been in since returning from a viral infection.

The DH entered the game in a 6for-48 funk, with a homer, a double, two RBIs, two walks and 14 strikeouts.

“It’s frustrating,” Holliday said. “I’d like to start driving the ball more.”

“I think he feels better,” Girardi said. “You start to see some signs of him coming out of it … [but] there’s always concern when you have older players — and he’s been under the weather.”

Ronald Torreyes started at second in place of the injured Starlin Castro (hamstring), with Girardi not wanting to keep the utility infielder out of the lineup too long.

Torreyes wound up scoring the Yankees’ first two runs after reaching on a pair of singles.

Girardi said he would continue to platoon Torreyes and Tyler Wade in Castro’s absence, but he also wanted to “keep Torreyes going. He’s been very productive for us.”