TAMPA, Florida – Outfielder Aaron Judge and third baseman Gio Urshela are back in the New York Yankees for Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The judge was kept out of the group in New York on Wednesday night, with pain in his left side and missed the opening of Friday’s series against Rays.
“We’re trying to be careful with him here early, we don’t want this to be a problem, and we hope to get through this and that in the next few days,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Saturday.
The judge had a homer, three hits and four RBIs in a 7-2 win over Baltimore on Tuesday night, but did not play in the Yankees’ 4-3, 11 innings loss a day later. New York had a day off on Thursday.
Boone said he thought the pain was caused by “general wear and tear” in the first few days of the season. He believes the discomfort could come from the moment the judge made further changes while serving as a designated striker on Sunday.
“I don’t think he did anything specific or just one thing,” Boone said. “I think it was just the gradual amount of work. He was probably moving a lot, doing a lot of work in the cage and things like that that led to a certain pain that he developed over time, but I don’t think there was a single thing. “
Judge, Rookie of the Year of the American League in 2017, missed 142 games from 2018 to ’20, passing the injured list at various points for a fracture of the right wrist, a left oblique stalk and twice for the stems of straight calf. It also broke a rib in March last year, but was preparing for opening day after the pandemic delayed the start of the season.
Urshela was placed on the COVID list of injured on Friday due to the side effects of the vaccination. He was originally listed on the starting line, but the Yankees made the change shortly before the game.
“We kind of expected that,” Boone said. “It was a little under the weather, along with a few other boys on our day off. In fact, he came yesterday, late in the morning, and felt good and ready to go and was in the starting line. symptoms again that he felt the day before and, in fact, by the end of yesterday’s game, he felt [like] again himself. And then last night he felt good. And then I saw his smiling face pass by my desk about 30 minutes ago, with his thumbs up. So we feel like he’s out of the woods and ready to go. “
Infielder Mike Ford was recalled from the alternative site and activated for the series. Any player placed on the injured COVID list does not count in the 40-man list. The list of injured COVID also does not require a minimum stay.
Also Saturday, the Yankees activated newly acquired Rougned Odor, who came from the Rangers in a deal Tuesday.
Odor did not make the Rangers’ Opening Day list and was nominated for the award on April 1. He’s a left-hander, and the Yankees have a majority right-wing line.
The smell is the second base, but he also played the third in the spring training.
ESPN’s Marly Rivera contributed to this report.