Aaron Judge is gone due to…

The judge clarified that he doesn’t really need to rush things and that his objective is to be prepared for Opening Day.

Judge will continue to play defense even though he won’t be hitting right now.

The judge was supposed to take batting practice on Tuesday and be back in the lineup on Wednesday. On Monday, the Yankees played split squad games; thus, Judge was not included in the starting lineup.

“I believe that simply by hitting from November to the present, every day, it put some wear and tear on it,” Judge explained about his problem to reporters, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com among them. “Especially when you’re only working on a few things and your mechanics are a little off after a [right] toe injury.

“I believe it’s just a daily aspect of being a baseball player. Taking a few days off now because these games are meaningless is preferable to missing a few games in April or May.”

Judge was withdrawn from the game after only two at-bats on Sunday; Yankees manager Aaron Boone disclosed on Monday that the star outfielder got “beat up in the middle of spring.”

In response to a question on Sunday, Boone stated that the judge’s removal following two at-bats had been prearranged.

The judge reaffirmed that, stating that he had informed Boone that he was okay with whatever arrangement worked for his Sunday playing time.

Judge has hit in 14 at-bats this spring.143 with an OPS of 464.

Due to a toe injury, Judge only participated in 106 games in 2023; however, in 2021 and 2022, when he played in 148 and 157 games, respectively, he was in excellent health.