New York Yankees star Aaron Judge was pulled from their 4-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles early on Tuesday night after he took a fastball to the hand while at the plate.
Thankfully for the Yankees, Judge seems to have avoided a major injury.
Judge was up to bat in the third inning at Yankee Stadium when a fastball from Orioles starter Albert Suarez drilled him in the hands. Judge was clearly shaken up in the moment, and he hopped around a bit while holding his fingers, before walking to first.
Judge remained in the game and took the field at the top of the fourth inning. It seemed initially as if he avoided injury altogether.
But by the time Judge was due up at the plate next at the bottom of the inning, the Yankees pulled him from the game. Instead, Trent Grisham came in to pinch-hit for him.
The replays of the hit don’t look great. Judge appeared to take the ball straight to his left pinky finger at the bottom of the bat, and he seemed to really struggle to squeeze his hand with trainers.
Judge underwent initial testing at a local hospital on Tuesday night. He confirmed after the game that he didn’t fracture his left hand, and that all tests came back negative. The move to pull him out of the game, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, was done simply as a precaution.
While the tests came back negative, it’s unclear how long Judge may be sidelined. He said he was hopeful that he’d be able to play on Wednesday.
“It’s a big relief,” Judge said. “Just being hit there before a couple years ago and breaking the wrist, you never know what’s going to happen. Finding out that it’s not fractured, not broken, is definitely a sign of relief … I told Boone I wanna be in there tomorrow, so we’ll see.”
The Yankees held a 3-0 lead over the Orioles at the time Judge was pulled from the game. Judge entered Tuesday night with a .299 batting average with 26 home runs and 64 RBI in 73 games this season, his ninth in the league.
Judge’s injury is the second significant one in recent days for the Yankees. They lost first baseman Anthony Rizzo for at least two months after he fractured his arm in an awkward collision in their loss to the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.
Despite losing Judge early, the Yankees held on to grab a two-run win over the Orioles late on Tuesday night. After jumping up to a 4-0 lead, WHO Santander hit a two-run homer for the Orioles in the ninth inning. That, however, was as close as they got.
The Yankees now hold a 51-24 record, which is good for first in the AL East. The Orioles have lost three of their last five, and trail the Yankees by 2.5 games in the division standings.