Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton swap spots in Yankees' Wild Card roster stunner vs. Red Sox

The New York Yankees will take the field on Tuesday night for Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against the Boston Red Sox with their captain and leader looking on, inactive. Despite taking on-field batting practice on Monday, less than two weeks after suffering a "moderate" calf strain bordering on his Achilles (don't fight us over "moderate," not our word choice!), Aaron Judge will officially not be on the Yankees' first-round roster, first reported by Jack Curry of the YES Network.

Curry also hinted at the strong likelihood of Judge remaining on the shelf on Monday night's preview show.

Yankees Roster vs. Red Sox in Wild Card Series will not include Aaron Judge, still features plenty of question marks

Judge will continue to rehab and ready himself for the ALDS, if the Yankees move on, which is the correct decision, as much as it obviously stings him. The so-called "tea leaves" made it fairly clear that elevating Judge before he'd run the bases would've been a bold call, and a likely foolish one. No harm, no foul over Judge's push to play. He's a competitor. That's how he's built. But the timeline never added up, and a hobbled, statuesque Judge would've done more harm than good.

And speaking of "statuesque" ... Giancarlo Stanton is ON THIS ROSTER, active for the first time since a late-April calf strain suffered on a moderate jog around the bases in Houston.

The Yankees previously hinted that they would lean offense over pitching, considering carrying as few as 10 pitchers for the best-of-three series. Stanton, exclusively a bench player and pinch-hitting option, won't start a game at DH, but will be available - cold and seemingly out of rhythm - for some of the biggest at-bats of the series, presumably against Red Sox lefties like Erik Miller and Aroldis Chapman.

If you're a fan of the Yankees ... holy cow! If you're a fan of theatricality ... ... HOLY COW!

Stanton getting off the mat after battling setback after setback this season is what the postseason is made of, and though the odds are against him contributing meaningfully, we can't say we're against the boldness of the choices that were made. Stanton was instrumental last year in instilling the "we don't get swept at home" mentality, as well as imploring his teammates to take every game seriously this season before he was felled. It's great to have him back, speaking alongside Judge and acting on his ambitions.

Yankees' full roster vs. Red Sox in Wild Card Series reveals two more surprise omissions

Take a gander - they weren't kidding about 10 pitchers! Tim Hill, Michael Fulmer, and Ryan Weathers off, Ryan Yarbrough (and Ryan McMahon and Trent Grisham) on!

Game on. Stanton's, of course, the biggest stunner of all. Hopefully, he can trot instead of run.

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