Of the many happenings during the Yankees’ three-game series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles last weekend, Aaron Judge‘s catch through the right-field wall is at the top.
saturday night JD Martinez drove a pitch for a sure extra-base hit off of Michael King in the eighth inning of New York’s 6-3 win. However, the reigning AL MVP tracked down the liner and caught the ball before crashing through the chain link fence into the bullpen, saving a possible big inning from the Dodgers.
Judge has missed both games since that day thanks to the outfielder slamming his big toe into the concrete slab at the base of the fence in right field.
Because of it, the Dodgers are now making changes to the fence, including adding a strip of padding to where the concrete is.
“He didn’t go through the door, which is what I thought when I was watching the game,” Dodgers team president Stan Kasten told The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. “Then I got out there and realized the door doesn’t open in that direction.
“He actually broke through where some of the panels were joined, the barrier between the two connecting panels. Which is unbelievable. But we’re going to strengthen that and add a strip of padding on the bottom as well.”
The Yankees were trying to avoid placing Judge on the IL with his toe injury, but manager Aaron Boone said he was both optimistic and concerned with his slugger prior to Tuesday’s series opener against the Chicago White Sox.
“Hopefully we will get good news & he continues to progress,” Boone told the media. “It seems like he’s progressed here over the last 24 hours from a swelling standpoint, which I think is an important factor.”
After Tuesday’s loss, the Yankees placed Judge on the IL with a contusion and sprain of the ligament in his toe.