Live updates of Yankees vs Red Sox in Game 1 of AL Wild Card Series

NEW YORK – After a Monday night conversation with Aaron Judge , the Yankees decided to go without their slugging captain in the best-of-three Wild Card Series.

"Just felt like he's not quite there yet,' manager Aaron Boone said before Tuesday's Game 1 at Yankee Stadium against the rival Boston Red Sox .

"Hopefully…he spends these next few days continuing to work his way back and we'll see about being an option'' in a later 2026 postseason series, should the Yanks advance.

Yankees celebrate clinching AL playoff berth in photos

According to Boone, that "frank and honest'' talk, in which Judge accepted the Yanks' decision, included members of the team's athletic training staff.

Still, Boone said he'd been "encouraged by what I saw'' during Judge's live BP session Monday (but he did not run the bases).

"I don't think he's all the way back necessarily,'' said Boone. "But the fact he was able to (hit on the field required) a lot of boxes to check to get to that point. That's encouraging.''

Giancarlo Stanton hasn't taken a big-league at-bat since April 24, due to three separate calf strains, but "he's been in a pretty good place for a couple of weeks now,'' including a lot of hitting work.

"Credit to him for putting himself in a position to be an option,'' Boone said of carrying Stanton, who figures to be a pinch-hitter only in this series.

Follow here for live analysis of Game 1, with Red Sox lefty Payton Tolle vs. the Yankees' Cam Schlittler, who eliminated the Sox in last year's deciding Game 3.