Boone Explains Decision to Leave Judge Off ALDS Roster

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone acknowledged the difficulty of the decision to omit Aaron Judge from the American League Division Series roster, citing the need for the slugger to fully recover from a right calf strain.

Boone stated that there were moments on Friday when he considered including Judge on the roster, potentially as a pinch-hitter with the possibility of more playing time later in the series against the Tampa Bay Rays if his condition improved. This consideration followed discussions with Judge and director of sports medicine and rehab Mike Schuck.

Ultimately, Boone decided that Judge was not yet ready for game action. "I just feel like he’s not quite ready to do it," Boone said Saturday before Game 1 of the ALDS. "He wanted to be on and was willing to do anything, but I just felt like for us to win a World Series – and fully acknowledging with him, and I understand this, obviously there’s no guarantees. We could be home in a week. But for us to potentially have a [good] version of Aaron back, I feel like he needs this week to continue to hit, continue to ramp up the running and moving and all those things. So it was very close for me … but I just felt like this was the right decision."

Judge, who has been actively working to return since straining his calf 17 days prior, reportedly took the news "OK," though Boone noted his disappointment.

"I think he’s disappointed, because I think he wants to be on, but I think he understands, too," Boone said.

Judge will continue his rehabilitation at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees' spring training facility in Tampa. He has been taking live batting practice for the past five days and began outdoor running on Tuesday. However, he has not yet progressed to running the bases.

Boone elaborated on the decision, explaining that the lack of extensive running and movement was a key factor. "The reality is he just hasn’t run a lot yet or started to move a lot," Boone said. "It’s one thing to be able to go out there and manage. It’s another thing to do it [for] three hours. I just feel like that volume part of it would have been a real challenge. And if we kept him on [the roster] in Giancarlo [Stanton’s] role, in that pinch-hitting role, I feel like that would have stripped away the ability to have some really good days and be in a better position five, seven, nine days from now."

The ALCS is scheduled to begin on October 12.

The Yankees had considered adding Judge to the roster for a potential pinch-hitting role in later games of the ALDS, but decided against it, feeling that more time was needed for such a scenario to be realistic.

Boone also addressed concerns about the turf at Tropicana Field, which can be problematic for players with leg injuries. He indicated that while turf conditions are always a factor, it was not the primary reason for Judge's exclusion, as he would not have been playing even if the series was at home.

Despite Judge's absence, the Yankees swept the Boston Red Sox in the wild-card series. However, Boone acknowledged that facing the Rays without their star slugger will be a significant challenge.

"It would be a blessing to have Aaron," said teammate Spencer Jones. "But at the same time, there’s games ahead that we’ve got to win with or without him. I think we’re set up, in a way, in a good position to win with the guys we’ve got."