NEW YORK -- Aaron Judge has a “moderate grade” right calf strain and is likely to miss at least the beginning of the Yankees’ postseason, according to manager Aaron Boone, who said the club does not plan to have their captain active for a potential American League Wild Card Series against the Red Sox.
“We’re planning on him not being a part of that,” Boone said on Tuesday. “But we’re also at a time of the year where … obviously we’d push it a little bit if that was in play. But that’s a week away. I’m not expecting it, but I’m not ruling it out, either.”
The Yankees have clinched a postseason berth, but the Rays can clinch the American League East title and the No. 1 seed in the AL with a win in either game of Tuesday’s doubleheader, which would lock in a Wild Card Series appearance for New York.
Judge was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday, retroactive to Sept. 17.
He received a platelet-poor plasma (PPP) injection in his right calf during Monday’s off-day and will have limited activities for the next several days.
“The next couple of days will be not much -- no running, jumping, things like that,” Boone said.
During the club’s weekend series in Phoenix, Judge and Boone were vague about the severity of the injury, which Judge sustained during the club’s series last week against the Twins.
Judge revealed the strain is in the soleus muscle of his right calf, which he said “is a little more crucial with running and hitting.”
“I’ve dealt with strains before and kind of played through them, but this was kind of in a different spot where it made it a little bit more difficult,” Judge said.
Generally, a Grade 2 calf strain takes three to six weeks to recover.
“If he’s able to play, then we’ll give him that opportunity,” Boone said.
Judge missed most of the summer with a fractured right rib, believed to have been sustained on April 26 in Houston. He played with the injury before landing on the injured list in early June.
Activated in September without a Minor League rehab assignment, Judge played just seven games after his reinstatement, going 4-for-23 (.174) with a homer. Overall, Judge batted .241/.360/.511 with 18 homers and 41 RBIs in 66 games this season.
“We’ve played much of the year without him, and for the most part, we’ve done a pretty good job,” Boone said. “Obviously, you always want your best player in the mix. But we understand we’ve got a job to do and an expectation to win. I think that expectation doesn’t change, with or without him.”
In additional injury updates, Boone said the Yankees intend to activate infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. between games of Tuesday's doubleheader.
Right-hander Clarke Schmidt underwent imaging after needing to cut his warmups short on Sunday in Phoenix due to discomfort in his right biceps.
"He's on the active roster for now, but he's got to play catch and do all those things to see how available he is," Boone said.