It was a bit of a strange night on Wednesday for Aaron Judge and the Yankees at Tropicana FIeld.
About a half an hour prior to the start of their game against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees mysteriously scratched Judge from their lineup.
It was reported that it was not trade-related nor injury or health-related. The YES Network also said on its broadcast Judge was not on the field for pregame stretching or batting practice.
By the fifth inning, Judge was pinch-hitting for Estevan Florial and would later drive in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning of a 3-1 win.
So, what the heck was going on?
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Judge, who returned from the COVID IL on Tuesday after missing nine games, was undergoing some “doctor appointments” related to the COVID stuff, according to manager Aaron Boone.
“I was pretty upset we weren’t able to get it done before the game,” Judge told reporters afterward.
While Judge did not fully disclose what he had to go through, he was asked whether or not he was vaccinated.
“I’m not gonna get into that,” Judge said, per NJ.com. “It’s something I like to keep talking to my doctor about.”
There is no requirement for MLB players to get vaccinated and the Yankees are among the teams that have reached the 85% threshold needed to loosen restrictions.
Yet, the team just had an outbreak in which six players were forced to go on the COVID IL. GM Brian Cashman acknowledged “most” were vaccinated.
Judge and Kyle Higashioka were the final players to return from the COVID list on Tuesday.
“There’s so many different tests, so many different kind of hoops you’ve got to jump through to come back,” Judge said. “There were a couple things that I needed to clean up and double check on.”
Judge said he only experienced mild symptoms and does not know how he got the virus.
“I’ve been trying to rack my brain around that,” Judge said. “I was trying to think if it was at the [All-Star Game], after the game. With all this COVID stuff, I don’t go out. There’s quite a few people in Colorado, but nobody knows. I wish I knew so I could retract it.”
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