The Yankees’ Unexpected Break Is Over. Now Comes 22 Games in 20 Days.

Before he landed on the 10-day injured list on Aug. 14, Judge was indeed swinging the bat like one of the best hitters in baseball. But a right calf injury arose as Judge played both games of a doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays on the artificial turf at Tropicana Field. The doubleheader was one of the ripple effects from the Marlins’ outbreak.

Judge, who did not consider the injury serious, was in the lineup for the Yankees on Tuesday. Even though he told Manager Aaron Boone he felt ready to be in right field in all of the team’s remaining 35 games, he said the Yankees might be judicious with his playing time in one of the coming doubleheaders.

Boone has tried to be conscientious about players’ workloads, but injuries are piling up again. In their 103-win regular season last year, the Yankees set a major league record by sending 30 different players to the I.L. Less than halfway through this season, they have outpaced themselves: 13 different players have landed on the I.L., with nine currently absent. Because of that, and the Aug. 31 trade deadline, the Yankees’ front office has been considering additions to the pitching staff.

James Paxton, who strained a muscle in his left forearm while on the mound last week, and shortstop Gleyber Torres, who strained left quadriceps and hamstring muscles while running to first base last week, were the latest to join the Yankees’ wounded. Both will be out for at least a few weeks.

One possible factor behind the rash of injuries, according to Paxton and Britton, who landed on the I.L. last week with a left hamstring strain: the short ramp-up period of three weeks leading into the truncated season.

“We didn’t get enough time at a lower speed to build up,” Paxton said. “And now you’re seeing, a few weeks into the season, guys are not fresh anymore and the tiredness is building up. We don’t have that base we normally have.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/25/sports/baseball/yankees-schedule-injuries.html