9 Yankees Observations After Injury of Aaron Judge, J.A. Happ Trade

The judge, their star slugger, fractured his right wrist when kicker Jacob Junis of the Royals hit him with a fastball of 93 mph in the first leg of the win. 7-2 thursday. The judge played until the fourth inning. He will not be allowed to play games, the Yankees said in a statement for three weeks. He will need detoxification games after that. The entire calendar looks like a month. It is late August, early September.

The best bet is that they fill the judge's spot internally. Giancarlo Stanton will probably take the job of an everyday right-handed fielder – a job he has held for eight years in Miami before traveling to the Bronx this year. This is not a problem. What could be problematic, however, is that the Yankees do not have a fourth fielder yet. Shane Robinson, who was named Thursday's Triple-A, is a good defender but does not really hit. Maybe Tyler Wade could come. The Yankees love his versatility. Clint Frazier (concussion) is on the DL major. Jacoby Ellsbury (back) still does not have, to our knowledge, baseball activities. The Yankees exchanged Billy McKinney against the Blue Jays in the J.A. Happ deal Thursday. But the deadline for trading is not until Thursday. There are more than a few fulfilled trading options that make sense, perhaps most of all former Yankees and Mets Curtis Granderson. Granderson is in Toronto. The Yankees have spoken in Toronto and they know what players in their farming system GM Ross Atkins likes. Granderson does not make much money, there is still noise in his bat, and the Yankees want to force Brett Gardner to play every day at this stage of his career?

The judge was the first Yankees' No. 2 hitter. Entering on Thursday, he had struck there 96 times. Stanton had hit second three times. Didi Gregorius had been in the place once. I think putting Stanton in second place is the most logical, especially considering how hot it has been lately. Could also see Aaron Hicks bring his switch-hit into the slot. Or maybe it's time to promote Gleyber Torres there. The idea of ​​Torres does not seem so bad, although the Yankees have had the slot to pull it down the range for so long. Could see them doing the same thing here.

When Gary Sanchez came back from his groin injury less than a week ago, I predicted that it would have the greatest impact on alignment. Yankees in the second half … then he shot his lazy shot at Tampa he re-aggravated the groin, spreading it to probably early September. I really thought that there would be a fire lit under Sanchez considering his terrible first half and the time he spent on the disabled list. Now, thanks to the injury again, he will have to get together (and FAST) at the end of the season as the Yankees get ready for the playoffs.