Aaron Judge scared the Yankees with a major injury Tuesday night when he was hit on the left hand by a pitch from Albert Suarez in the game against the Baltimore Orioles.
Judge stayed on the field and ran, but after giving his teammates a couple of right-footed punches in the dugout, he headed straight to the clubhouse.
Dodgers star Mookie Betts fractured his left hand in an identical incident over the weekend. Judge received brief treatment from two trainers and appeared to be in pain before finally walking to first.
Judge reappeared in the top of the fourth and took his place in center field, but just when Yankee Stadium thought it was safe to breathe a collective sigh of relief, Trent Grisham took his place in the batting lineup as a pinch-hitter.
He left the stadium and headed to Columbia Oresbyterian Hospital to take images. Any injury to Judge would be a disaster for the Yankees, who entered Tuesday’s game in New York with baseball’s best record as the first team to reach 50 wins.
Aaron Judge was hit on the left hand by a 94 mph pitch in Yankees vs. Orioles on Tuesday night.
Judge remained on the field after treatment, but Trent Grisham came in as a pinch-hitter.
Judge has hit 26 home runs so far this season for the Yankees and his partnership with Juan Soto in the batting order has made the team one of the favorites to win the World Series.
He’s on track for another season that could put him in MVP contention and, if he stays healthy, could even rival his record-breaking 62-homer season in 2022.
The timing is also frustrating for the Yankees given that Cy Young-winning pitcher Gerrit Cole is scheduled to return from injury and make his first start of the season on Wednesday.
The Yankees did not have manager Aaron Boone in the dugout on Tuesday; He missed the game to attend his son’s graduation.
It also comes days after first baseman Anthony Rizzo broke his arm over the weekend against the Boston Red Sox. He could miss up to eight weeks.
There was more concern for the Yankees in the bottom of the fifth when Gleyber Torres was also hit by a pitch. Baltimore pitcher Suarez had been taken out of the game by Keegan Akin, who hit Torres with just his third pitch.