Judge out of HR Derby
Aaron Judge will undoubtedly be in Texas for the AllStar Game, but he won’t be in the Home Run Derby.
Judge said Saturday he would not participate in the event, before hitting his MLB-leading 28th homer in the bottom of the first of the Yankees 8-3 win against Atlanta at the Stadium.
“I’m not doing it,’’ Judge said.
He added that people surrounding the event have asked if he would participate, but declined.
“There’s no need this year,’’ Judge said.
Asked if he was finished with the event for good, Judge said he would do it again.
“I’m not done with it,’’ said Judge, who won it in 2017 as a rookie. “Once it’s back in New York, I’ll be there.”
He’s also hit 24 homers in his last 50 games and was asked to compare this season to his record-setting 2022 season: “It’s tough to say. Each year is so different.”
Judge is still wearing a pad on his left hand after getting hit there Tuesday.
➤ In their attempt to fortify their battered bullpen, the Yankees signed a familiar face to a minor league deal: Chasen Shreve.
The 33-year-old lefty opted out of his minor league deal with the Rangers last month after appearing in 20 games with Triple-A Round Rock, where he had a WHIP of 0.761 over 22 ¹/₃ innings.
Shreve previously pitched for the Yankees from 2015-18 before he was traded in ’18 to the Cardinals in exchange for Luke Voit.
➤ Gerrit Cole will start Tuesday’s Subway Series opener against the Mets on Tuesday and Luis Gil is slated for Wednesday’s game, Aaron Boone said, but the manager added the team hasn’t ruled out bumping Gil back a day to pitch in Toronto on Thursday.
“There was some consideration of, ‘Do we bump him an extra day there?’ ” Boone said. “We’ll keep talking about that.”
➤ Despite throwing 78 pitches in 4 2/₃ innings in Friday’s loss, Yoendrys Gomez remained on the roster instead of being optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
“We felt he reset us [Friday] night,” Boone said of the taxed bullpen. “He gives us a quality option from a long standpoint.”