Yankees leave Aaron Judge off roster for ALDS
Aaron Judge will be a spectator for the ALDS against the Rays. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Shortly after returning from a 3 1/2-month stay on the injured list because of a right rib stress fracture but before returning to the IL with a right calf strain, Aaron Judge spoke about the mental impact of missing so much time on the field.
“It kills you,” he said during a quiet moment. “Man, I was born to play this game, and when you don’t get a chance to do that and it gets taken away from you, it kills you.”
And that was in reference to regular-season games. One can only imagine his reaction to sitting out playoff games.
After missing both games of the Wild Card Series because of the calf strain that put him on the IL on Sept. 19, Judge will not be part of the American League Division Series against the Rays that began Saturday night at Tropicana Field.
The three-time American League MVP was “very close” to making the 26-man roster for this best-of-five series, manager Aaron Boone said. He indicated that if the Yankees advance to the best-of-seven American League Championship Series, Judge might be in play for a roster spot.
“He’s had a good couple of weeks where I feel like he’s moving in a good direction and doing some good things,” Boone said a few hours before Saturday night’s Game 1.
After Friday’s workout, Boone huddled with Judge and team trainer Michael Schuk.
“We just kind of worked through it,” Boone said. “In the end, I just feel like he’s not quite ready to do it. Like he wanted to be on and was willing to do anything, but I just felt like, for us to win a World Series . . . for us to potentially have a version of Aaron back, I feel he needs this week to continue to hit, continue to ramp up the running and moving and all those things. It was very close for me, and there were times in the day I felt like maybe he was going to be on, but I just felt like this was the right decision.”
Judge’s reaction?
“I think he’s disappointed, because he wants to be on, but I think he understands, too,” Boone said.
The Yankees did not miss Judge in the Wild Card Series against the Red Sox, outscoring their rivals 18-2 in a two-game beatdown in the best-of-three series.
But the Rays — who won the division with a 98-64 record, including an AL-best 55-26 at Tropicana Field — are not the Red Sox. Their lineup is better, they play better defense (than just about everyone else in the sport, according to defensive metrics) and they pitch better.
Judge desperately tried in recent days to get himself physically able to play. He joined his teammates on the field during Friday's workout at Tropicana Field, taking a full round of batting practice. But, perhaps tellingly, he did not test the calf with running of any kind on the Trop’s spongy artificial turf.
Despite handling the Red Sox the way they did without Judge, the Yankees' mentality is not “no Judge, no problem.” But it is their reality, and it was a reality throughout much of the season.
Unlike in past years when Judge missed significant chunks of time, the Yankees did reasonably well, going 52-43 with their captain out of the lineup and 41-25 in the games in which he played.
“To be honest, I think our team's preparation is the same regardless,” rookie outfielder Spencer Jones said Saturday afternoon. “It would be a blessing to have Aaron. But at the same time, there's games ahead that we've got to win, with or without him. I think we're set up, in a way, in a good position, to win with the guys we've got.”
Rays manager Kevin Cash, who on Friday said his team was preparing as if Judge would make the ALDS roster, said on Saturday he felt a twinge of disappointment that he was not on it.
Not in his role as opposing team manager, of course, but as a fan of the sport.
“My reaction? Look, there was a lot of conversation about it,” Cash said. “I totally respect Aaron Judge and what he means to that team. But I also respect that Major League Baseball needs to see its best players playing on a stage like this. So [there’s] certain disappointment [in] that. But knowing that he's not lurking on the bench or coming around hitting second or third is probably a benefit.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
