Yankees’ Aaron Judge diagnosed with flexor strain, will be placed on IL

The New York Yankees are losing their MVP to the injured list, according to manager Aaron Boone.

Aaron Judge, New York’s superstar slugger and leading candidate in the AL MVP race, will be placed on the IL with a flexor strain in his right elbow, Boone told reporters on Saturday. There is no tear to the UCL.

The expectation is that Judge will only need 10 days away from the team. When he is available again, he will ease back into the lineup as a designated hitter, Boone said, while beginning to throw before eventually returning to the outfield.

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Judge sat out Saturday’s 9-4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies due to an “elbow issue,” as manager Aaron Boone described it beforehand. Boone added that Judge “couldn’t really throw from the outfield” and underwent an MRI.

It’s unclear exactly when Judge initially suffered the injury. Judge was seen wincing and gripping his right hand after a throw during Tuesday night’s win over the Toronto Blue Jays. The following day he did not play right field but served as designated hitter. Boone said the slugger was “OK.”

Since Tuesday, Judge was 1-for-10 at the plate; the lone hit was a home run in an 8-4 defeat to the Blue Jays on Wednesday. Saturday’s game was the first he’s missed all season.

Judge is in an MVP race with Seattle Mariners star catcher Cal Raleigh. In 103 games, Judge leads the majors in batting average (.342), OPB (.449), slugging (.711) and OPS (1.160). Raleigh leads the majors in homers (39) and entered Saturday trailing Judge’s 84 RBI by one.

The Yankees finish a three-game series with the Phillies on Sunday afternoon and finish their homestand with four games against the Tampa Bay Rays. They will then hit the road to face the Miami Marlins and Texas Rangers.

How will general manager Brian Cashman react to the loss of Judge? The MLB trade deadline is July 31 and the Yankees are now six games behind the Blue Jays for the AL East lead and five of eight games since the All-Star break.