Judge headed to IL, but 'it could've been worse'

NEW YORK -- Right fielder Aaron Judge will go on the 10-day injured list with a flexor strain in his right elbow. But in a positive development for the New York Yankees and their superstar, a scan did not show damage in the two-time MVP's ulnar collateral ligament, and he will not require surgery.

"I never had any really elbow issues or anything like that," Judge said after not playing in the Yankees' 9-4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday. "You never know what you're kind of getting into, but I'm glad it's just it is what it is."

New York manager Aaron Boone said Judge will not throw a baseball for 10 days to two weeks, but the team hopes he'll come off the IL after the 10 days to serve as their designated hitter. Boone said he spoke to Giancarlo Stanton, the team's primary DH, about returning to play outfield to accommodate Judge. Stanton hasn't logged an inning in the outfield since the 2023 season.

"All in all, we got good news today," Boone said. "I think all of us kind of feared the worst."

Despite the relatively positive news -- the worst case was season-ending Tommy John surgery -- the Yankees will still be without their best player at a turbulent time. With Saturday's defeat, the Yankees have dropped seven of 10 games and are 14-23 since June 13. Only the Washington Nationals, who recently fired their general manager and their manager, have fared worse during that stretch. In that span, the Yankees have fallen from first place in the American League East by 4½ games to second place, six games behind the Toronto Blue Jays.

Judge, named Yankees captain before the 2023 season, leads the majors in batting average (.342) and OPS (1.160). His 37 home runs and 85 RBIs rank second. He is the favorite to win his third AL MVP in four seasons.

"They're going to be just fine," Judge said of his team playing without him. "The guys are going to step up. I think that's what it comes down to."

Judge said he initially felt discomfort in his elbow making a throw home from right field in the fifth inning of Tuesday's victory at Toronto. Judge later winced after catching Alejandro Kirk's seventh-inning fly in the right-field corner and throwing to second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. as Bo Bichette tagged up and went from second to third. A YES Network camera then caught him clenching his right hand in a fist.

The 33-year-old Judge shrugged it off as part of the aches and pains that surface over the course of the season and stayed in the game. He was the Yankees' DH on Wednesday, which already had been planned, and homered.

He thought the pain would subside with the DH day and the Yankees' off day Thursday by the time he returned to the outfield on Friday. Judge said he was adamant about playing Friday, but the elbow flared up again, and he couldn't throw the ball more than 60 feet. Boone said he decided to keep Judge in the game because he trusted Judge would not hurt himself further.

Judge said he was "reluctant" to go on the injured list and argued to DH instead, but the team pushed for him to miss time and focus on recovery.

"Throwing is the main concern," said Judge, who was not in the Yankees' starting lineup on Saturday for just the second time this season. "Hitting happens too quick, and it's not really the motion that I felt anything. I think the muscle that hurts is the muscle used to grip, so there might be some issues with that. But I've been hitting the past couple of days, so if I can hit, get me out there."

Judge underwent an MRI on Saturday morning and met with head team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad, a leading expert on Tommy John surgery. Boone said Judge was administered a platelet-rich plasma injection, which is given to stimulate healing.

"You never want to go in the tube," Judge said. "That's never fun. You don't know what's going to show up. That's why I kind of pushed off a lot of the imaging and stuff like that because [if] I don't know what's going on, can't hurt you, I guess. But yeah, it's never too fun going in that, but glad we got a better answer than, you know -- it could've been worse."