The Yankees needed Judge to get at-bats before October.
The New York Yankees losing Aaron Judge for any more time than they already have this season would be an absolute worst-case scenario, and it came true on Friday. The Yankees put Judge on the 10-day IL with a right calf strain.
Judge ended up leaving Wednesday's game with what seemed to be a lower-body injury, though his comments after the game didn't really make it seem like anything was seriously wrong.
For now, it's still unclear how bad Judge feels and whether this is to be safe.
Even if New York decides to play him on the last day of the regular season, there's a very good chance that he could be playing through an injury. At the same time, it would be a lot smarter if the Yankees went in a different direction and decided not to play him until he feels 100%.
There are a lot of different ways to look at this, but Judge had a lot to say and ultimately felt that it was best to leave Wednesday's game.
“We’re still trying to ramp up,” he said, per The Athletic. “So there’s going to be little things like this as they come up. Just thought it would be best (to leave the game) instead of pushing through like I normally do, and it might become a little worse. Get somebody who’s ready to go in there. Trying to do what’s best for the team.”
“At the start of the season, once you start ramping up again, things pop up,” he said. “That’s where we’ve been, thankfully, this whole time coming back. Nothing’s really nagged us. Hope this is just one little thing and we’re back out there soon.”
While I understand why Judge leaving the game shouldn't necessarily be seen as a bad thing, I also think we should look at a couple of other factors.
For one, the Yankees need Judge to be the player everybody expects him to be, especially on the offensive side of things.
As for how he feels, while the postseason is the most important thing for the Yankees, Judge has barely played this year. I don't think anybody can look at him right now and think that he's going to come in and be 100% if he doesn't get the at-bats he needs before then.
Sadly, that isn’t possible now.
