Aaron Judge suited up with a stress fracture in his rib for over a month after sustaining the injury on a diving attempt in late April, he revealed Friday, according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.
"Big G's (Giancarlo Stanton) hurt, Max Fried's hurt," the New York Yankees star said when asked why he decided to play with the injury. "We had a lot of guys banged up. You've got to be out there. That's what they're paying me to do, to go out there and play."
The three-time AL MVP said he was hurt during a game against the Houston Astros. He added that the pain was so bad in late May during a series against the Athletics in Sacramento that his swing was impacted during games and that he basically stopped swinging before contests, per Chelsea Janes of SNY.
Judge is expected to be sidelined for an extended period with the injury and will undergo another imaging evaluation in four-to-six weeks. The Yankees placed the 34-year-old on the 10-day injured list Friday and recalled Spencer Jones to fill the open roster spot.
"I don't like talking timetables. That stuff's all made up," Judge said, according to Hoch.
Judge also acknowledged he didn't tell manager Aaron Boone about the injury until the series in Sacramento, according to Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News.
"Obviously, you're not going to replace Aaron Judge," Boone said Friday, per SNY. "We all know how important he is to our club, but we're also very confident in our ability to go out there and absolutely have the expectation to continue to win games."
Judge is slashing .248/.375/.533 with 17 homers and 38 RBIs over 59 games this season.
