If the Yankees actually were holding their breath concerning Aaron Judge’s health, they would have passed out a long time ago.
Three days after Judge sustained the injury to his right big toe, there was still little public clarity as of early Tuesday evening regarding the severity of the setback.
The Yankees played a second straight game without their superstar outfielder in the lineup and were awaiting a visit with Dr. Chris Ahmad, the Yankees’ team physician, that was scheduled for Tuesday night.
Judge underwent a battery of testing in New York on Monday. Aaron Boone did not want to comment on “the preliminary tech reads” of the exams before announcing anything.
“He’s getting treatment. The swelling is better today,” the Yankees manager said before opening a series against the White Sox in The Bronx. “He feels a little bit better today.”
Judge suffered the injury making a remarkable catch at Dodger Stadium over the weekend, banging the toe against the concrete at the base of a right-field fence that he ran through.
On Sunday, Judge did not rule out the possibility his toe was broken or the possibility he could be sidelined for an extended period.
“If I’m on [the injured list], I’m on it. But I’m trying not to be. Who knows?” Judge said in Los Angeles. “I’ve got no answer yet.”
Even after Monday’s off day, neither did the Yankees. Boone said he still did not yet know if Judge would require an IL stint.
“I don’t like when he’s not in the lineup. It’s hurting him enough to not be in there,” Boone said about his best player. “But hopefully we get good news, and he continues to progress. It seems like he’s progressed here over the last 24 hours from a swelling standpoint.”
The Yankees started Jake Bauers in left, Isiah Kiner-Falefa in center and Willie Calhoun in right field Tuesday, with DH Giancarlo Stanton moving up to the No. 2 spot in the order and Josh Donaldson hitting cleanup.
Judge and Stanton played just one game together after the latter was activated from a month-and-a-half-long IL trip. Seemingly whenever the Yankees can exhale concerning an injury, another pops up.
Their outfield already had been shorthanded before Judge went down.
The Yankees have been missing Harrison Bader for a week after he strained his right hamstring on May 29.
Bader is swinging, playing catch and running, but he likely will not be ready by Friday, when he first is eligible to be activated.
“That might be a bit of a stretch just considering hamstrings are a little tricky,” said Bader, who was hitting .267/.295/.511 in 26 games before suffering his second injury of the season.
The Yankees’ outfield also is missing Stanton, who returned from a hamstring strain Friday but is being used solely as a designated hitter.
Boone said Stanton will begin to ramp up this week for outfield duties, but the club does not want to put Stanton in right field soon.
“I don’t want to speed it up because of this, because of Aaron,” Boone said. “We’ve gotta do this smart with Giancarlo as well.”
The Yankees have lost plenty of pieces throughout the first two-plus months of the season, but Judge is literally and figuratively the largest piece.
A season after crushing a club-record 62 home runs, Judge has smoked an American League-best 19 in 49 games.
Last year, Judge homered in 8.9 percent of his plate appearances. This season, he has homered in 8.9 percent of his plate appearances. He somehow has been following up an all-time season with another.
Judge is irreplaceable. The Yankees might have to replace him for a second time anyway, after Judge missed time with a hip strain in early May.
“We expect to pick it up every day, whether Aaron’s in there or not,” Boone said. “This team has done a great job of just being really focused really for most of the season. I think that’s one of the things I’ve been most pleased about with this group is their preparedness and their compete [level] and grit every night.”
