The New York Yankees have been adding to their roster this week, but the most notable transaction likely will be what they’re losing for at least the next few weeks.
Yankees slugger Aaron Judge will be out at least three weeks with a fractured wrist after he was hit with a pitch against the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night.
Judge suffered a chip fracture in his right wrist after being hit with a 93 mph fastball from Royals starter Jakob Junis in the first inning of the Yankees’ eventual 7-2 win. Judge, somewhat surprisingly, stayed in the game and even singled in his second plate appearance before ultimately leaving in the fourth inning. Tests revealed Judge likely won’t need surgery, but it will be at least three weeks before he’s able to swing a bat.
While it’s good news for New York that Judge won’t need surgery, losing arguably your best player in the middle of a pennant chase is less than ideal, and if Judge can’t even swing a bat until mid-August, you have to wonder whether he’ll ultimately miss more time than that. The 2017 American League Rookie of the Year and MVP runner-up is having another great season. He’s hitting .285 with 26 home runs and 61 RBIs while also playing pretty good defense in right field. Judge’s 5.0 wins above replacement (Fangraphs) is fifth among all position players in baseball.
It could be worse, though. The Bombers’ schedule over the next few weeks is … less than taxing.
New York’s offense is good enough that it likely won’t need to make a move before the July 31 trade deadline to fill the hole left by Judge. The Yankees already have made a couple of big moves this week, trading for Toronto starter J.A. Happ and Baltimore reliever Zach Britton.
