8:00pm: Judge has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 oblique strain and has been placed on the 15-day disabled list, the team told reporters (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch).
9:17am: Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is unlikely to return from an oblique injury suffered last night, Sweeny Murti of WFAN reports on Twitter. Fellow young outfielder Mason Williams will be called up to take his place.
[Related: Updated Yankees Roster]
Judge, 24, made his highly-anticipated major league debut this year after a strong run at Triple-A. Over 410 plate appearances at the highest level of the minors, the massive slugger posted a .270/.366/.489 batting line with 19 long balls.
The first taste of the majors hasn’t been quite as smooth for Judge, who has whiffed 42 times in 95 plate appearances. His .179/.263/.345 slash leaves quite a bit to desire, though he has launched four big league homers.
Really, the early struggles aren’t of particular concern; it’s worth noting, too, that Judge needed time to adapt at Triple-A. And the injury isn’t likely to be a major problem. But it will prevent him from getting some more plate appearances under his belt, and could conceivably interrupt offseason training or winter ball plans.
It’s not clear that the injury will really impact the offseason plans of the Yankees, who likely already viewed Judge as a work in progress heading into 2017. GM Brian Cashman has already suggested that the club won’t look to add outfielders over the winter.
That approach is based in some part on the availability of other potentially useful players such as Williams, a former top prospect who only just turned 25. His prospect star has faded in recent years, with injuries playing a limiting role, so the move won’t come with much fanfare. This will be Williams’s second run at the majors — he had a nice, but very brief, call-up last year — and it comes on the heels of a 31-game stint at Triple-A in which he slashed .296/.313/.376.
Wow, both Judge and Austin’s lines are simply brutal – after all the press they’ve gotten one would think the Yankees had a new core 4, instead they have failing prospects and Sanchez, who has been great but also hasn’t really been challenged yet.
So two months is enough to write off Judge but not enough to evaluate Sanchez? Prospects take different routes to success, if they find it at all. Mike Schmidt hit 195 as a rookie and Greg Maddux was 6-14 with a 5.61 era. Austin is a bench player and wasn’t a hyped prospect.
Why would comp Judge’s cup of coffee with Schmidt’s first full season when Schmidt had a cup of coffee too???
Schmidt never had a 44.2 K% at any level. Judge is another Sam Horn at best, although his defense might allow him more time. He’s also pretty old for a prospect.
I love how we had to read about these scrubs when Boston has actual All-Stars in Betts and Bogaerts, who are younger than all these Yankees hype-busts.
You Red Sox trolls are too funny.
So now we understand….just another Red Sox troll making negative comments about anything Yankee.
lol I’m not a Red Sox fan, as a fan I hate them too. I’m just not an arrogant homer like you all are, and can view every team in the game without rose colored glasses – you should try it sometime!
Then you’re just an ignorant fan. Based on 80 plate appearance Mike trout was a complete bust…get a clue
You know that you didn’t HAVE to read about “these scrubs” right?
Huh? Its on this site, my fave one to post on and talk about – of course I do!
Is there a list (with 2016 stats) of all the MLB “call ups” – to see how they’re all doing … without tagging each individual player off each teams’ roster ?
Baseball Ref has debuts for each season arranged by WAR I seem to remember a page that has all the stats too but cant seem to find it atm.
baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/2016-debuts.sht…
baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/2016-rookies.sh…
Just sort from 2016-2016 for players that debuted this year and not players that still have rookie intact.
Thank you, Phil !
Will try….
Great links!
Dang Tyler Anderson is GOOD. Rockies have a nice future if they can figure out a bullpen. If they signed Rich Hill they’d be a legit threat in 2017.
Why won’t they call up Clint Frazier already? He deserve a shot to play.
He’s hitting .228/.278/.396 as a Yankee prospect and isn’t on the 40-man. Not worth it yet, still has something to prove.
Judge still has time to adjust to major league pitching. Austin is was never the caliber prospect that Judge and Sanchez were.
Pitchers have adjusted to Sanchez and his .214 BA his last 61 plate appearances prove it. Real question is can he adjust back? Getting a mistake pitch for a Yankee stadium cheapy doesn’t count.
Yup, this is exactly what I’m talking about. It wouldn’t surprise me if Sanchez fell off as hard as Bryan LaHair did, but also wouldn’t surprise me if he was a superstar.
Judge on the other hand, yikes. He is legit bad at hitting. I’d be more excited for the return of Bird than Judge breaking out.
what about the 2hr’s the 2 previous days that were bombs. He is what he is. A .275ba power hitting catcher.
And Judge is what he is…. a 45% strike out .174BA outfielder.
This may actually be good for Judge. He is clearly struggling against MLB pitching. Give him some to decompress and spend time studying video in an attempt to develop a more advanced approach at the plate
Finally someone with a brain. There is no way the Yankees could have thought this team would play as good as they have post trade deadline. It was all about getting some chips back in trades and giving the young guys a chance to start adapting now, rather than the start of next season. Exposure and experience.
I’m not sure why everyone is going nuts over this. I like what the Yankees did at the deadline–they got younger and more athletic. And I like them bringing up the prospects and giving them a chance. Some are going to have success, and some not, but what better time than in a time when the Yankees are pivoting on roster management. Maybe Judge will never be a player–there are other prospects who, hopefully, will. In the meantime, the team is playing better than anyone expected, and giving the kids a chance to play in games with something at stake. For the first time in several years, I feel optimistic.
As a Yankee fan I never got the hype around Judge. The Yanks had and have acquired some great talent in the minors, but anyone who Ks as often as Judge is not a top prospect until he can get the # closer to a 20% k-rate, which is a tough hill to climb.
Why would any team place someone on the 15 DL in September? 60 day or nothing.
After the world series, all players have to be added back to the roster.
Just got to hope that Judge can fix his strikeout issues over the winter through Spring Training. It does seem like a mental issue that Judge is having. Most professional MLB players don’t swing at bad pitches away from the strikezone multiple times in one at-bat. And sometimes it does look to me that he’s standing a bit too far off the plate in the box, but I would guess that it’s because of his huge size. But Cashman said that Judge would have to compete for the starting spot at Right Field. The only competition I can think of is Refsnyder and Frazier.
Is judge still qualify for rookie of the year next year because he be on dl
They are rookies. Most do not start as well as Sanchez. Look at Bradley Jr. in Boston. Took him a couple years before he started hitting along with some of their other young guys. First up in major leagues with a team like Yankees pressure for playoffs run has to be tough for most call ups.