Aaron Judge needs more high-power tests on bone bruise as he avoids IL for now

With so much uncertainty swirling about the status of Aaron Judge, the bone bruise near his right rib cage that’s impacting his swing and how much time the Yankees’ superstar could miss, the only thing that’d become certain by the end of Wednesday night was that the waiting game continued into Thursday.Judge, who was out of the lineup for a second consecutive game during the Yankees’ 5-4 loss to the Guardians, saw a specialist Wednesday who confirmed what the Yankees had seen to this point with his injury, manager Aaron Boone said.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.

But Judge is going back for “more high-power, more specific” tests around the rib and chest area to get a “really strong diagnosis of things.”“We just want clarity on what exactly we’re dealing with,” Boone said.“Then we can set the course of action and kind of have an idea of what the timeline’s gonna be.”So when the Yankees left the ballpark after a second consecutive loss, Judge remained off the injured list, but the additional testing certainly cast an ominous tone about the status of their superstar.Judge last played in a game Sunday, underwent imaging on the team’s day off Monday and met with team physician Dr.

Christopher Ahmad on Tuesday before the specialist got involved.He was left to work out in the weight room Wednesday, get treatment and await his fate — whether this was a best-case scenario that didn’t involve the injured list, a short stint on the IL or something more long term.

The Yankees were left to tweak their lineup, with José Caballero in right field and Ben Rice as their lineup’s power source.Asked before the game how long the Yankees would go without Judge being an option before making a transaction, Boone said he didn’t know.“It kind of depends on probably this diagnosis with the doctors and seeing where he’s at [Wednesday] and [...