NEW YORK -- New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge suffered a chip fracture in his right wrist after being hit by a pitch in the first inning of Thursday night's 7-2 win over the Kansas City Royals and is expected to miss three weeks, the Yankees announced.
Judge underwent an MRI and CT scan at New York Presbyterian Hospital following an examination at Yankee Stadium by team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad.
The Yankees said Judge isn't expected to need surgery, but it will be about three weeks before he can swing a bat in a game. He was placed on the 10-day disabled list on Friday and the team recalled infielder Tyler Wade from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
"I'm concerned any time our players have to leave the game with something, and obviously Judgey is so important," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said shortly before Judge's diagnosis was revealed.
Judge was struck by a full-count, 93 mph fastball from Royals pitcher Jakob Junis in the first inning. After visibly wincing in pain and slamming down his elbow guard and other gear, Judge walked slowly up the first-base line. When he reached first, trainer Steve Donohue came out to check on his right hand and wrist. Judge remained in the game at that point.
After scoring on a Giancarlo Stanton sacrifice fly later in the inning, Judge came back up to hit in the third, reaching on an infield single.
When his next plate appearance arrived an inning later, Judge was removed. Miguel Andujar pinch-hit for him. Judge, who entered Thursday's game batting .283 with 26 home runs and 61 RBIs, served as the Yankees' designated hitter for the game.
Junis said the pitch didn't wind up where he intended it.
"I was just trying to go heater away, and it totally got away from me," Junis said. "I tried humping up a little extra on it, and I just really came open and let it go."
Boone said hitting coach Marcus Thames was with Judge just before that last plate appearance, as Judge tried to hit in the cages underneath the dugout.
"He just said he didn't feel like he had the right kind of strength behind his last swing," Boone said, relaying Judge's initial thoughts. "He didn't balk at [coming out of the game]."
In other Yankees injury news, starter Sonny Gray exited Thursday's start soon after getting nicked in the pitching hand by a hard grounder. He was scheduled to have X-rays as soon as the technician returned with Judge from the hospital, although Boone said they were more precautionary than anything else. Boone indicated the ball might've hit the muscle part of Gray's hand, lessening the risk of something serious.