Yankees Mall puts Judge on list for mild groin strains

“In the grand scheme of things and the big picture, we feel like we got good news about it,” Boone said before Saturday’s game in Texas. “Having said that, we want to make sure we are doing right by him and by us.”

Judge has not played since being knocked out in the series opener Thursday night, when he was substituted into right field in the bottom of the fourth inning after hitting in only two of his at-bats. It came the day after he landed awkwardly on his right when trying to steal third base in Minnesota on his 31st birthday.

Boone said the judge had shown “a lot of improvement” during his treatment in the past two days. He said the hitter wanted to hit Saturday, but the team was holding him back from baseball activities.

“We’ll wait to see today and tomorrow and see how we do, to see if that’s something we want to take 10 days out of (IL’s job), or if he’s ready to play by Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday,” Boone said. “It would be something we kind of pay attention to here.”

Judge, who hit the AL-62 single-season record last season, hit . 261 with six home runs and 14 RBI in 26 games this year. He played in every Yankees game until being dropped from the lineup on Friday and Saturday.

The Yankees added Jake Powers to their Triple A cab squad from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Friday. He was added to the 26-man roster on Saturday, replacing right fielder Franchie Cordero, who was optioned to Triple-A after Friday night’s game.

New York was already playing without outfielders Giancarlo Stanton (left hamstring strain) and Harrison Bader (left oblique strain), and third baseman Josh Donaldson (right hamstring strain). All of them are on the IL, with six pitchers.

Without the judge, Anthony Rizzo takes over as the leading home run hitter in the lineup with five.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.