New York Yankees star outfielder Aaron Judge was out of the lineup for the second consecutive game Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox.
Judge went down during Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Southern California after making an insane catch on a fly ball.
Following Tuesday’s loss to the White Sox, Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters that Judge will be placed on the injured list with a contusion and a sprained ligament in his toe. The good news? There’s no fracture or break of the toe. That would have likely led to a stint on the injured list of up to six weeks. This is now unlikely to be the case.
This is still relatively big news for the Yankees in that they’ve struggled without Judge in the lineup this season. Including Tuesday’s loss, New York is 6-7 without Judge. The team boasts a 30-19 record with him in the lineup.
Aaron Judge stats (2023): .291 average, 19 HR, 40 RBI, .1078 OPS
Judge leads the American League in homers, slugging percentage and OPS. His importance to the Yankees’ lineup can’t be overstated.
Related: Aaron Judge among the top AL MVP candidates
Judge had been raking big time before going down to injury, hitting .348 with 13 HR and 24 RBI in his past 19 games.
It will now be up to the rest of the Yankees’ lineup for at least the next week to step up. After their current series against Chicago, the New York Yankees take on the hated Boston Red Sox in a three-game weekend set. They then open next week on the road against the New York Mets before heading to Boston for another series against the Red Sox.