Aaron Judge was left out of the starting lineup for the second-straight game Thursday for what Aaron Boone cited as playing the “long game.” It’s Judge’s fourth missed start of the year for reasons that the organization has intentionally kept vague and follows his noticeable absence from the Yankees final three spring training games.
The team has played 25 regular season games meaning Judge has started 84 percent of them. Applying that pace over the course of 162 would give him 136 games in 2021 – by far the most since his career-high 155 during his rookie season.