Aaron Judge, the back-to-back American League MVP, will not play in the Yankees' Wild Card Series against the Red Sox despite showing signs of improvement in recent days. The 34-year-old has been on the injured list since September 16 with a calf strain and will miss at least the first round of the playoffs entirely.
Judge's absence significantly weakens the Yankees' lineup heading into the postseason. The team ranked 11th in MLB in OPS during the regular season and 9th in runs scored, numbers that improved considerably when Judge was healthy. The Yankees were 41-25 when Judge started and 52-43 without him. Beyond Ben Rice, the Yankees lack depth in the batting order to compensate for losing their slugger.
On Monday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters that Judge had been "making progress" after taking batting practice on Sunday, and Judge himself said he felt great running on an anti-gravity treadmill. Despite these optimistic signals and plans to potentially run outside, the team decided to leave him off the roster. One positive development for the Yankees: designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton will be available after missing time with his own calf strain. Stanton has been the active career home run leader with 456 across 17 seasons and has hit .254 with 18 home runs in 48 career playoff games.
The Wild Card Series begins Tuesday night with Game 1 in the Bronx, a best-of-three matchup where the Yankees will start Cam Schlittler against Red Sox starter Payton Tolle.