The Yankees will at least officially miss at least a week after officially placing Aaron Judge on the disabled list on Wednesday with a sprained right big toe. However, no specific schedule has been set for Judge, who was injured in a jump catch through the right field fence at Dodger Stadium on Saturday.
“There is no next step,” said manager Aaron Boone. “Think of shooting the big toe joint. You’ve got to get over it and we’ll see where we are.”
Judge received a platelet-rich plasma injection into his toe Tuesday night during the Yankees’ 3-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox. Predictably, once the swelling from the shot subsides in a few days, the Yankees will have a clearer picture of how judges should move forward.
This will be Judge’s second IL stint of the season after missing 10 days with a sore right hip last month. He still has 19 home runs in the American League and has the best slugging percentage (.674) and on-base percentage and slugging percentage (1.078) in the majors.
“Technically, I think taking the best players in the sport off the lineup every day leaves less room for error,” Boone said. “Having said that, we have Keyman back in our lineup and frankly have done a very good job of hitting in the last two weeks and a lineup that can hit in many different ways. is.”
For a right-handed hitter like Judge, the big toe of the right foot triggers the rotation of the lower body on the swing. Infielder DJ LeMahue, who fractured the sesamoid bone in his right big toe last season and then suffered a ligament tear in his second toe, was severely disabled by those injuries. It cost him most of September and all of the postseason, and was pretty embarrassing.
“That sounds silly because it’s a toe,” LeMahu said Wednesday. “But it has a big impact on a lot of things.”
LeMahugh said he saw what he called the judge’s toe “completely black and blue” but did not discuss the details of the injury with the judge. He said anyone with a leg injury should be prepared to be frustrated.
“My feet heal slowly,” Lemahew said. “I think if I get hurt again, it’s always going to be like, ‘OK, four to six weeks of rehab, and that’s okay.'” ”
Boone said Judge’s toe problem at least looks easier than LeMahugh’s injury last season. But the Yankees aren’t sure until Judge’s recovery begins, and the recovery is on hold for now. Judges will miss at least the remainder of this homestand (Thursday’s doubleheader against Chicago and three weekends against the Boston Red Sox), and next Tuesday’s Game 1 against the Mets at Citi Field. become.
The team promoted left-handed outfielder Billy McKinney, who had a .274 batting average and nine home runs for the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, to the active roster to replace Judge. The 28-year-old McKinney appeared in the first two games of his major league career with the Yankees in 2018 before playing in Toronto, Milwaukee, the Mets, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland.
