ARLINGTON, Texas — Aaron Judge got his first day off of the season Friday, but the Yankees were left holding their breath while waiting to find out how many more days he might miss.
The reigning AL MVP underwent an MRI exam on Friday for the right hip injury that forced him to exit Thursday’s game early at Globe Life Field.
Judge was set to meet with a doctor following the testing, but after their 5-2 loss to the Rangers, the Yankees were still waiting on team doctor Chris Ahmad to read the results before making any decisions.
“It doesn’t seem too serious, but that said, we still don’t have a clear picture of it yet,” Boone said.
Asked if he still expected Judge to need a stint on the injured list, Boone said he did not know.
He did say the MRI showed “something,” but repeated that it did not seem too serious.
“It seems like it could be day-to-day, but it also could be a short [IL] stint,” Boone said. “We’ll have to see when Dr. Ahmad weighs in and see where we’re at [Saturday] with it.”
In the meantime, the Yankees had outfielder/first baseman Jake Bauers fly to join them at Globe Life Field from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
As of Friday afternoon, he was just on the taxi squad, but he appeared to be in position to join the active roster in the coming days — either to replace Judge if an IL stint was needed or to be promoted regardless because he was swinging a hot bat at SWB.
But that decision was on hold until the Yankees figured out the status of Judge, who woke up on Friday feeling “better,” according to Boone.
“Look, he’s arguably the best player in the sport and it’s no secret what he means to our team,” Boone said before the game. “Hopefully we don’t lose him for long. But we got a game to play.”
Judge had woken up on Thursday feeling the whole right side of his body “locked up,” stemming from his awkward dive into third base on Wednesday’s win over the Twins.
He was still in the starting lineup for the series opener against the Rangers — Boone said Friday he had just been worried about Judge’s hand, which is what was known to be the main issue on Wednesday — but felt “a little grab in the hip area” on his second-to-last swing of his at-bat in the second inning.
Judge remained in the game before being replaced by Oswaldo Cabrera entering the bottom of the fourth.
After Thursday’s game, Judge said he wasn’t “too concerned” about the hip injury being something serious, but indicated it might keep him out a few days.
“It’s part of it,” Boone said Friday when asked about the feeling of waiting for the test results. “We talk about it all the time: the grind of the major league season, the adversities you’re going to face, the ups, the downs, you gotta be able to deal with it. You gotta be able to roll with it. You gotta be able to handle everything that comes your way. You know it’s not always going to be perfect. You try to deal with it as best you can.”
On Friday, that meant rolling out an outfield of Cabrera in left field, Aaron Hicks in center field and Franchy Cordero in right field.
Judge had started each of the Yankees’ first 26 games of the season — 16 in center field, six in right field and four at DH. If he is forced to miss time, the Yankees would look to a number of players to help fill the void, including Hicks and Isiah Kiner-Falefa in center field and Cordero, Willie Calhoun and Bauers in right field.
Harrison Bader (strained oblique) also could come off the IL to take over center field as early as next weekend.
