ARLINGTON, Texas — Yankees slugger Aaron Judge isn’t in the starting lineup for New York’s regular-season finale Wednesday against the Texas Rangers, a day after his 62nd home run that broke Roger Maris’ 61-year-old American League single-season record.
When Judge homered in the first inning Tuesday night, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Rangers, it was his 55th consecutive game. He has played in 157 games overall for the AL East champions.
With the first-round bye in the playoffs, the Yankees won’t open postseason play until the AL Division Series starts next Tuesday.
Even though Judge had indicated that he hoped to play Wednesday, manager Aaron Boone said after Tuesday night’s game that they would have a conversation “and see what makes the most sense.”
Judge went into the final day of the regular season batting .311, trailing AL batting average leader Minnesota‘s Luis Arraez, who was hitting .315. Judge was a wide leader in the other Triple Crown categories, with his 62 homers and 131 RBIs.