Judge was struck by a full-count, 93 mph fastball from Royals pitcher Jakob Junis in the first inning. After visibly wincing in pain and slamming down his elbow guard and other gear, Judge walked slowly up the first-base line. When he reached first, trainer Steve Donahue came out to check on his right hand and wrist. Judge remained in the game at that point.
After scoring on a Giancarlo Stanton sacrifice fly later in the inning, Judge came back up to hit in the third, reaching on an infield single.
When his next plate appearance arrived an inning later, Judge was removed. Miguel Andujar pinch hit for him. Judge, who entered Thursday’s game batting .283 with 26 home runs and 61 RBIs, served as the Yankees’ designated hitter for the game.
“I’m concerned anytime our players have to leave the game with something, and obviously Judgey is so important,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Boone said hitting coach Marcus Thames was with Judge just before that last plate appearance as Judge tried to hit in the cages underneath the dugout.
“He just said he didn’t feel like he had the right kind of strength behind his last swing,” Boone said, relaying Judge’s initial thoughts. “He didn’t balk at [coming out of the game].”
In other Yankees injury news, starter Sonny Gray exited Thursday’s start soon after getting nicked in the pitching hand by a hard grounder. He was scheduled to have X-rays as soon as the technician returned with Judge from the hospital, although Boone said they were more precautionary than anything else.
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