Yankees' Aaron Judge breaks wrist | What it means

by Felix Pantaleón

Yankees star Aaron Judge will miss at least three weeks, likely more, with a broken wrist suffered in a 7-2 win over the Royals at Yankee Stadium on Thursday.

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NEW YORK — Aaron Judge caught a break.

Not the kind the Yankees wanted.

Judge broke his right wrist when a pitch hit him in the Yankees’ 7-2 win over the Royals at Yankee Stadium on Thursday.

It was a chip fracture of his ulnar styloid bone, the team said in a statement. He won’t need surgery but he won’t be able to “swing a bat in a game situation” for about three weeks, the team said.

While the Yankees say Judge won’t be able to swing in a game for about three weeks, it’s probable that the team will want the 26-year-old to play in at least a handful of rehab games before rejoining the big-league club.

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That puts a late-August, early-September timetable on a return for the Yankees’ most important slugger. And that’s about when the Yankees expect catcher Gary Sanchez (right groin strain) to come off the disabled list.

Royals starting pitcher Jakob Junis hit Judge with a 93-mph fastball in the first inning. Judge stayed in the game and even recorded an infield single in his next at-bat but manager Aaron Boone yanked him in the fourth inning.

Boone said pain wasn’t so much Judge’s problem. Rather, Boone said, Judge lacked strength in his hand when taking swings in the batting cage near the Yankees’ clubhouse between innings.

“I’m concerned, obviously, any time our players have to leave the game with something,” Boone said before the Yankees revealed the final diagnosis. “Obviously, Judgey is so important.”

What it means: Immediately, it means Giancarlo Stanton becomes the team’s everyday right fielder — the position he manned for eight seasons in Miami, including for last year’s National League MVP campaign, before settling into a part-time DH role in the Bronx this season.

Another man down: The Yankees have three big-league caliber outfielders on the disabled list. Judge joins Clint Frazier (post-concussion symptoms) and Jacoby Ellsbury (back). Ellsbury hasn’t played all season while nursing various other problems, though he says he expects to play in 2018.

Trade? Hard to imagine the Yankees trading for another outfielder with Judge out, though the deadline isn’t until Tuesday. Likely, the Yankees will just rotate the DH slot. They might prefer to start Neil Walker at third base and play Miguel Andujar at DH more games, considering Walker’s defensive superiority.

Timing: Could look at it as good or bad timing. The Yankees are 4 1/2 games behind the Red Sox in the American League East. But …

After Royals series, #Yankees face O’s, Red Sox, White Sox, Rangers, Mets, Rays and Blue Jays without Judge.

In other words, the injury is good timing. On paper, only tough series is in Boston. New York’s loaded lineup & deep bench is capable of handling matchups above.

— Deesha Thosar (@DeeshaThosar) July 27, 2018