TAMPA, Fla. Outfielder Aaron Judge and third baseman Gio Urshela are back in the series for the New York Yankees for Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Judge was held Wednesday night with a sore in his left side outside the New York series and missed Friday’s series opener against the Rays.
“Just trying to be careful with him here early on and not wanting it to be something that becomes a problem, and hopefully we can get ahead in these days,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Saturday.
Judge had a homer, three hits and four RBIs Tuesday night in a 7-2 win over Baltimore, but a day later he did not lose in the Yankees’ 4-3, 11 innings. New York had a day off on Thursday.
Boone said he felt for the first few days of the season that the hurt was due to ‘general wear and tear’. He believes the discomfort may stem from the fact that Judge swung extra Sunday while serving as the designated victim.
“I don’t think there was anything he specifically did or anything,” Boone said. “I think it was just the gradual workload. Probably a lot of swinging, a lot of cage work done and stuff like that that just led to a soreness he developed over time, but I don’t think there was anything.”
Judge, the 2017 American League Rookie of the Year, missed 142 games from 2018 to ’20 and went on the injured list at various points for a right wrist fracture, a left oblique strain and twice for right calf strains. He also broke a rib last March, but was ready for the opening day after the pandemic delayed the start of the season.
Urshela was placed on the COVID injured list on Friday due to side effects of a vaccination. He was originally in the starting lineup, but the Yankees made the change shortly before the game.
“We kind of expected it,” Boone said. ‘He was a bit under the weather with some other guys on our day off. He actually came in late yesterday morning and felt good and ready to go and was in the original series. But then he started experiencing the weather symptoms he had felt the day before, and actually he felt at the end of the game yesterday [like] himself again. And then it felt good last night. And then I saw his smiling face walking to my office about 30 minutes ago with thumbs up. So we feel like he’s out of the woods and ready to go. ‘
Striker Mike Ford has been recalled from the alternative site and activated for the series. Any player placed on the COVID injured list does not count in the 40s. The COVID injured list also does not require a minimum stay.
The Yankees also activated the newly acquired Rougned Odor, which came in an agreement from the Rangers on Tuesday.
Odor did not make the Rangers’ Opening Day rankings and was nominated for the award on April 1st. He’s a left – handed hitter, and the Yankees have a mostly right – handed lineup.
Odor is a second baseman, but also plays third in the spring practice.
ESPN’s Marly Rivera contributed to this report.