ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Yankees spent Friday considering whether Aaron Judge might become useful enough later in the American League Division Series to justify carrying him before he was ready to play.
By Saturday morning, they had their answer.
Judge will not be on the Yankees’ 26-man ALDS roster against the Tampa Bay Rays, YES Network’s Jack Curry reported, extending the captain’s absence through at least another postseason round as he continues recovering from a right calf strain.
The Yankees are expected to provide more details behind the decision. Curry pointed to a combination of factors that likely worked against Judge: he has not done much running, the first two games will be played on Tropicana Field’s artificial turf and New York had roster spots to consider for one or two additional pitchers.
“Not surprised,” Curry wrote. “Calf strains take time.”
The decision represents a significant turn from Friday, when manager Aaron Boone openly discussed carrying Judge even if he could not play immediately.
Judge worked at George M. Steinbrenner Field before taking batting practice at Tropicana Field later Friday. He had also accumulated live at-bats during the week. But his rehabilitation remained uneven in one important area: running.
Judge had begun running, according to Boone, but as of Friday had not run the bases since suffering the calf injury Sept. 16.
That apparently left the Yankees unwilling to gamble a Division Series roster spot on what Judge might become several days from now.
Yankees reject the wait-for-Judge gamble
Boone acknowledged Friday that New York had been considering the entire series rather than Judge’s readiness for Saturday’s Game 1 alone.
“We’re looking at the days, and so it’s more, is he going to be available at some point in this series potentially as a player. That’s what we’re kind of weighing, and then seeing where he’s at now these last few days, having taken live BP. We’ll see how Friday goes,” Boone said.
The schedule appeared to provide an opening.
Games 1 and 2 are Saturday and Monday at Tropicana Field before the series moves to Yankee Stadium for Game 3 on Wednesday. That would have given Judge additional recovery time before the Yankees returned to the Bronx.
New York could have rostered him without intending to use him immediately, effectively sacrificing one bench spot while waiting for his calf to improve.
Instead, the Yankees decided the possibility of a later-series return was not enough.
That is particularly notable because Judge’s bat appeared further along than his legs. He faced live pitching, took repeated batting practice and continued increasing his baseball activity. Running and defensive work remained the bigger hurdles.
The Yankees ultimately chose certainty elsewhere on the roster over the possibility Judge might become available midway through the round.
Tropicana Field may have complicated Judge’s return
The location of the first two games could have played a role.
Curry specifically pointed to Tropicana Field’s turf as one of the factors likely “baked into” the Yankees’ decision.
Judge is recovering from a soft-tissue injury in his right calf and had not yet progressed to running the bases. Asking him to make that jump under postseason intensity on artificial turf would have added another layer of uncertainty.
Judge has also made clear that he wants to return as a complete player rather than simply occupy the designated hitter spot.
Those ambitions made the gap between batting practice and actual game readiness more important.
The Yankees were not merely asking whether Judge could take one at-bat. They had to determine whether his expected contribution over a maximum five-game series justified a roster position that could otherwise go to a healthy position player or another pitcher.
Their answer was no.
Pitching needs squeeze Yankees’ roster
The length of the ALDS also changes Boone’s roster calculation.
New York carried only 10 pitchers and 16 position players during its two-game Wild Card sweep of Boston. A best-of-five series presents different pitching demands, particularly with four starting options and the potential for considerably more bullpen innings.
Curry indicated that adding one or two pitching spots likely factored into the Judge decision.
That makes carrying an unavailable or severely restricted player more difficult.
The Yankees already have Giancarlo Stanton operating under physical limitations. Carrying Judge while waiting several days for him to potentially become playable could have reduced Boone’s flexibility elsewhere.
New York instead gets a full roster for the Rays series while giving Judge uninterrupted time to continue building toward game speed.
ALCS path now becomes Judge’s next target
Leaving Judge off the roster also removes another risk the Yankees would have assumed by activating him prematurely.
MLB postseason rules allow an injured player to be replaced during a series with league approval, but that player then becomes ineligible for the remainder of that round and the following round.
Had the Yankees activated Judge, watched him aggravate his calf and then replaced him, his postseason could have been pushed beyond a potential ALCS.
Keeping him off the ALDS roster avoids that scenario.
If the Yankees eliminate Tampa Bay and Judge continues progressing, the next decision can be made with additional recovery time behind him.
That matters considering how little baseball Judge has played this year.
He missed 84 games with a fractured right rib, returned Sept. 8 and appeared in only seven games before the calf injury interrupted his season again. He hit .174 with one home run in 23 at-bats during that brief return and struck out 13 times.
Judge finished the regular season hitting .241/.360/.511 with 18 home runs and an .871 OPS across 66 games.
The Yankees therefore are not simply waiting for the calf to stop hurting. They are trying to determine when Judge can withstand postseason game speed after another extended interruption.
Yankees now have to beat Rays without their captain
New York already proved it can win a postseason series without Judge.
The Yankees swept Boston 9-0 and 9-2, outscoring the Red Sox 18-2 while collecting 26 hits. Ben Rice, Cody Bellinger, Luis García Jr., Spencer Jones, George Lombard Jr., Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Austin Wells gave Boone enough offense to advance without his biggest bat.
Tampa Bay presents a more demanding test.
The Rays won 98 games, captured the AL East and went 55-26 at Tropicana Field. Gerrit Cole will face Drew Rasmussen in Game 1 on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Judge will again be watching rather than hitting in the middle of Boone’s lineup.
After the Wild Card sweep, Judge had made clear that his absence had not changed how he viewed the Yankees’ success.
“I’m wearing a Yankees uniform, I’ve got NY on my chest. When the Yankees win, we all win,” Judge said.
For the ALDS, that will remain his postseason role.
The difference now is that there is no possibility of Judge suddenly appearing later in the series. The Yankees have made their decision for the entire round.
Their next explanation will be why waiting for their captain was no longer worth the gamble.
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