New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone does not sound confident about Aaron Judge’s odds of returning this season.
Judge left in the middle of the Yankees’ Wednesday tilt against the Minnesota Twins with an injury the team initially labeled as right leg soreness. Two days later, the Yankees announced that they were placing Judge on the 10-day injured list.
With less than two weeks until the playoffs begin, reporters asked Boone Friday whether Judge would be back in the lineup in time for the postseason. The Yankees skipper did not sound convinced.
“I don’t know,” Boone responded, via USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. “I don’t have a timeline on it. I can’t predict anything. … I mean, we have no idea, we’re in the early stages. We’ll just obviously treat it and see what transpires.”
Boone spoke further about the Yankees learning to play without Judge, who has spent more than half the season on the mend.
“The reality is that we’ve had to play a lot of the season this year without him,’’ Boone said. “There’s no replacing a player as great as Aaron Judge, but you know we have high expectations that don’t change now. We have a lot of confidence in the people we run out there every day. We’re going to match up day in and day out, and the goal doesn’t change.”
The Yankees lost Judge for 84 games this season after he sustained a rib injury in April. He tried to play through the issue and had an unproductive May until the team decided to shut him down.
New York maintained a winning pace during that span, going 45-39 in the 84 games without its captain. But winning gets a lot harder once the lights get brighter in the playoffs.
