Well, guess what? The Yankees are going to be without Aaron Judge -- at least for the foreseeable future. A future that will be better determined by an MRI.In the bottom of the sixth, after slicing a single to right, Judge winced in pain as he completed his swing and stood on first base in pain. Trainer Steven Donohue and manager Aaron Boone came out to check on the Yankee slugger, and without much discussion or debate, Judge was removed from the game and taken into the locker room.
As he moved down the dugout, Judge starred at the ground and dropped an audible F-bomb as he made his way toward the tunnel. It suddenly didn't matter that the Yankees were up 6-1 on the Royals at that time. It also didn't matter that the Yankees won 9-2 and pulled to within .500 for the first time in two weeks at 10-10.
None of that matters until the Yankees know the status of Judge who is hitting .288 with five homers and 11 RBI this season.
Asked if he believes Judge can avoid the Injury List, Boone said, "probably, not."
The early diagnosis is that it could be an oblique injury. Oblique's are very tricky. Sometimes they could take days, weeks or even months to heal from. Two years ago, MLB.com did a study and it revealed that about 56 percent of oblique injuries are suffered by hitters, and the reason for it is the size and power of today's hitter. In short Judge was a candidate for such an injury and didn't even know it.
The Yankees are now without all of the big thumpers in their lineup. Giancarlo Stanton (strained left biceps) and Gary Sanchez (strained left calf) are out and will be out for a while more. Staff ace Luis Severino is out until at least July if not longer. Didi Gregarious could be out until July as well. If Judge's oblique injury requires time to heal we may not see him until late May or June. But we'll learn more on Monday.
In the interim, the Yankees have to try to get back over .500 without him and 12 other guys who find themselves on the IL.
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