Yankees' Aaron Judge to Go on IL Because of Calf Injury, Aaron Boone Says

There's bad news for New York Yankees star Aaron Judge, who will have to go on the injured list due to a mild calf strain. 

Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters Friday the hope is that Judge's injury won't keep him out very long. 

"He's got a very mild strain of his calf," Boone said. "It's something that I think he really wants to work through here and wants to be out there and feels like it's a day-to-day thing which it very well may be."

Judge was removed from Tuesday's game against the Atlanta Braves in the sixth inning for pinch hitter Mike Tauchman.

Boone kept his All-Star right fielder out of the lineup for Wednesday's series finale vs. the Braves with what he called "lower body tightness."

“It's kind of all over the lower body where he's dealing with some rigor,” the Yankees skipper said. “The hips and down into the hamstrings and calves. I think it's a result of the four games’ pounding in three days down in Tampa.”

This is certain to cause concern for the Yankees, as Judge has dealt with a series of injuries since the start of last season. He only appeared in 102 games during the 2019 campaign due to a strained oblique. 

After not taking part in hitting or on-field drills during spring training earlier this year, the Yankees announced March 6 that Judge was dealing with a stress fracture in his right rib. 

The delayed start to the Major League Baseball season allowed Judge to heal. The 28-year-old leads MLB with nine home runs, 20 RBI and a .758 slugging percentage in 17 games.