NEW YORK — New York Yankees star Aaron Judge had an injection in his sore right calf, putting his status for the postseason in even more jeopardy.
Before the Yankees faced the Tampa Bay Rays in a day-night doubleheader Tuesday, manager Aaron Boone said Judge had a platelet-poor plasma injection during the team’s day off Monday after its return from Arizona.
Judge was put on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a strained soleus muscle, which is in the lower part of his calf. Boone did not say what grade the strain is but described it as “moderate.”
“We’re planning on him not being a part of that, but we’re also at the time of the year, you hear all the time with injuries, you give ranges two to four weeks, four to six weeks,” Boone said. “The range is for a reason and we’re at a point of the year where obviously we push it a little bit if that was in play, but that’s a week away. I’m not expecting it, but I’m not ruling it out either.”
Judge is eligible to be activated for the regular-season finale Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles but won’t do much activity in the next few days.
He injured his calf during Wednesday’s game at Minnesota. The eight-time All-Star was lifted in the sixth inning for a pinch hitter because of discomfort in his leg and said at the time it was a precautionary move.
Boone said symptoms persisted and an MRI revealed the strain.
Judge was 4-for-23 with 13 strikeouts and one extra-base hit in seven games after returning Sept. 8 from a broken rib, which kept him out of the lineup for more than three months.
He’s hitting .241 with 18 homers and 41 RBIs in just 66 games this year. He hit a long homer Sept. 14 at Minnesota and had the next game off before straining his calf.
The Yankees entered Tuesday with a 48-41 record in the games Judge has missed and a 41-25 mark in games he has played. They also began Tuesday a loss away from being eliminated in the American League East race, setting up a second straight wild-card series against the Boston Red Sox next week.
“We’ve played much of the year without him, and for the most part we’ve done a pretty good job,” Boone said. “So guys are used to it. Obviously you always want your best player in the mix, but we understand we’ve got a job to do and an expectation to win. That expectation doesn’t change with or without him. We’re expecting to go into the series and know we can beat anyone when we play our game.”