Aaron Judge Fractures Wrist, Must Wait Three Weeks to Swing Bat
New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was hit by a pitch on Thursday night. The incident resulted in a chip fracture of his right wrist. Aaron Judge was hit during the first inning of the Yankees 7-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals. It is expected that Judge will miss at least three weeks, said the Yankees late Thursday night.
After being hit by the pitch, Judge was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital. There he underwent both a CT scan and MRI after being examined by the team’s physician at Yankee Stadium.
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The Yankees released a statement that doctors do not believe Judge will have to undergo surgery. Although, it will take approximately three weeks before the outfielder can swing a bat.
The ball that hit Judge was a 93-mph fastball thrown by Jakob Junis the Royals starting pitcher on Thursday during the first inning. After noticeably wincing in pain then throwing down an elbow guard, Judge slowly walked toward first base. When Judge reached first, Yankees trainer Steve Donahue arrived from the dugout to check his hand and wrist. Judge stayed in the game.
Later during the inning, Judge scored on a sacrifice fly by Giancarlo Stanton. In his second at bat, Judge reached base in the third inning with an infield single.
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When it was time for his next appearance at the plate one inning later, Judge was taken out of the game by the Yankees. Judge, who started Thursday’s game hitting .283 with 26 homers and 61 RBIs did not play in the field on Thursday, but was the designated hitter.
Junis told reporters that the pitch he threw did not go where he had intended it to. The Royals pitcher said he was attempting to throw his heater away from the Yankees hitter, but it got away from his.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that the team’s hitting coach was with his slugger before Judge’s final appearance at the plate, at the batting cages underneath the team’s dugout, where Judge was trying to hit.
Boone said that Judge told his hitting coach he did not have the strength in his swing to hit and did not question the decision of his coach to take him out of the game.
The Yankees are expected to make an announcement about Judge’s injury on Friday.
