Aaron Judge Day-To-Day With Minor Hip Strain, 10-Day IL Still Possible

Aaron Judge left Thursday’s game due to hip discomfort, and Yankees manager Aaron Boone updated reporters (including Peter Sblendorio of the New York Daily News) today that the star slugger has a mild strain located at the top of his hip.  The Yankees will look to make a decision by Monday about whether or not Judge needs a stint on the 10-day injured list to fully heal up, though Boone noted that Judge has “shown a lot of improvements here in the last two days.”

Though the IL is still a possibility, it is at least good news that Judge’s MRI didn’t reveal anything serious, and that the hip injury seems as minor as initially believed.  Since IL placements can be backdated up to three days, Judge would only miss a minimal amount of time.  Of course, losing Judge for any amount of time is naturally a big blow to New York’s lineup, and if he does have to hit the 10-day IL, the Yankees won’t have their best player for their upcoming series with the Rays on May 5-7.

Judge’s importance to the club might also be a reason to err on the side of caution, however.  If Judge isn’t feeling quite right on Monday, the Yankees might feel that a 10-day IL trip to correct the problem now is preferable to Judge trying to play through any discomfort, and risking worsening the hip strain.  Should a 10-day absence be all that Judge needs to get himself right, he’ll be able to return in plenty of time for another key stretch of games, as New York has eight games against the Rays and Blue Jays from April 11-18.

Perhaps inevitably, Judge’s numbers have dropped from his all-timer of a season in 2022, but he is still hitting an impressive .261/.352/.511 with six homers in his first 108 plate appearances.  With Judge out of action at least through the weekend and Harrison Bader and Giancarlo Stanton already on the IL, the Yankees have been forced into a less-than-ideal outfield mix that includes Aaron Hicks, Oswaldo Cabrera, Willie Calhoun, the newly-selected Jake Bauers, and utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa.