The New York Yankees will begin their Spring Training exhibition games on Friday, but they will start it without two of their main starting players.
Aaron Judge and Austin Wells won’t play in Spring Training games until March 1
According to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that Aaron Judge and Austin Wells will be held out of games until March 1. He didn’t have any mention of an injury to either player and just wants to ease their win in after a short offseason for them.
“He played 150, 160 games last year. I don’t want to rush him,” Boone said about Judge.
Both Judge and Wells have participated in live at-bats in training camp. Wells hit a home run off of Yankees reliever Ian Hamilton during Thursday’s practice.
The Yankees are playing it safe with Wells and Judge
Both players appeared in at least 115 games last season but played every game in the postseason. The Yankees had only about three months of an offseason as they reached the World Series last year, which would explain playing it safe with two key starters.
Additionally, the Yankees have already run into some injury trouble, as designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton could miss the start of the season as he is dealing with soreness in both of his elbows. New York will want to avoid their star players getting seriously injured as much as possible as they look to make it back to the World Series with a retooled roster.
The Yankees will have their first Spring Training game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday at 1 P.M. EST. Marcus Stroman will throw one inning of work, while Paul Goldschmidt, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Anthony Volpe, Jasson Dominguez, and Cody Bellinger are expected to play in part of the game.