Barring a postseason run by the Yankees, Aaron Judge’s season is over, general manager Brian Cashman said Wednesday.
Judge was placed on the 15-day disabled list after an MRI exam determined he suffered a Grade 2 right oblique strain. Judge was injured on a swing Tuesday and, even before the exam’s results were known, Cashman said he didn’t expect to see the right fielder back before the end of the regular season.
“These things usually take a while, so we’ll get a better feel for it, but regular season, I don’t see how it’s possible,” Cashman said. “Right now, in the short-term, I don’t think so.”
Manager Joe Girardi concurred after the 2-0 loss to the Dodgers.
“He won’t do anything for at least 10 days … except some treatment and we’ll see how quickly he heals,” Girardi said. “I’d be surprised if we saw him in the regular season.”
Judge, 24, hit four home runs, but also struck out 42 times in 84 at-bats and hit just .179 since his Aug. 13 call-up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. But Cashman was encouraged.
“Obviously, he’s struggled with strikeouts, but part of the process is to get him up here, get these growing pains out of the way, speed up the adjustment process,” Cashman said.
More help could be arriving in the form of Aaron Hicks, who is on the DL with a hamstring injury, but was scheduled to leave for Tampa on Wednesday for rehab.
Hicks first worked out before the game and “he’s doing great, he had a great day of work,” Girardi said. “We will see where he’s at after this weekend.”
Cashman chatted with a familiar face before the game: Nick Swisher.
The former Yankee, who left Triple-A in July and at the time said he would consider a comeback next season, was in town for an MLB Network appearance. He called the Yankees GM to ask if he could stop by and Cashman obliged.
Wednesday’s loss, the third in four games for the Yankees, was a sour end to the homestand, but Girardi stressed positives: “7-3 against some pretty big teams.”
On lifting starting pitcher Michael Pineda, Girardi said that after “81 pitches in four innings, I felt that was the time.”
It was the 10th shutout loss for the Yankees and their fifth in the past 23 games.
Tyler Clippard threw a scoreless eighth. He has allowed one earned run in 21 games with Yankees.