NEW YORK — Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was held out of New York’s lineup Wednesday night with soreness in his left side.
Judge had a homer, three hits and four RBI in a 7-2 win on Tuesday night but wasn’t back in the lineup against the O’s a day later. New York has a day off Thursday, giving the right fielder a chance to rest on consecutive days.
Manager Aaron Boone said he thought the soreness was from “general wear and tear” over the first few days of the season. He believes the discomfort might stem from when Judge took more swings than normal while serving as designated hitter on Sunday.
“Just don’t want to push anything right now,” Boone said.
Judge, the 2017 AL Rookie of the Year, missed 142 games spanning 2018-20, going on the injured list at different points for a right wrist fracture, a left oblique strain and twice for right calf strains.
Boone said Judge’s current soreness didn’t seem specific to the left oblique, instead calling it “general soreness” on that side.
The 28-year-old Judge planned to join the team for pregame stretching, and Boone didn’t rule out using him as a pinch-hitter. He also said the right fielder wasn’t expected to seek an MRI or other image testing, but he wouldn’t rule it out as a possibility.