Aaron Judge left off Yankees' Wild Card Series roster vs Red Sox with calf injury

NEW YORK (AP) — Injured Yankees captain Aaron Judge was left off New York's roster for its AL Wild Card Series against the Boston Red Sox starting Tuesday night.

Giancarlo Stanton, out since April 24 because of strained calf muscles in both legs, was included. So was center fielder Trent Grisham.

Sidelined since Sept. 16 by a strained right calf , Judge took live batting practice on the field Monday, a day ahead of the series opener, in an effort to persuade manager Aaron Boone and the medical staff. He walked twice, hit a comebacker to the mound and took a called third strike against teammates Ryan Weathers and Elmer Rodríguez.

A three-time AL MVP, the 34-year-old slugger had a platelet-poor plasma injection Sept. 21. He was sidelined by a fractured rib from May 31 to Sept. 8 and played in just seven games before the latest injury.

Judge was limited to 66 games this season. He hit .241 with 18 homers, 41 RBIs and an .871 OPS, including .174 with one homer and three RBIs in September.

Stanton started the season with a .256 batting average, three homers and 14 RBIs in 24 games. The 36-year-old former NL MVP had 38 homers and 100 RBIs in his first season with New York in 2018 but has missed 500 of 1,194 games since (41.9%).

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