Aaron Judge was forced to leave the New York Yankees recent contest against the Texas Rangers due to injury. As the Yankees plan for a potential Judge absence, New York has determined their backup plan.

The Yankees are prepared to call up Jake Bauers, via Brendan Kuty and Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. New York is awaiting the results of Judge’s MRI. If Judge is forced to miss time, the Yankees will call Bauers up. If Judge comes back healthy, Bauers could stay on the taxi squad. Bauers is already on the way to Texas for if he is needed.

Judge suffered a hip injury in the Yankees 4-2 win over the Rangers on Thursday. He also reportedly is dealing with a sore right hand, via Kuty and Kirschner. His MRI will determine exactly how much time, if any, Judge will have to miss.

Bauers had been off to a hot start at the AAA level this season. Through 21 games, Bauers was hitting .319 with nine home runs, 2o RBI and five stolen bases. He has more walks (18) than he does strikeouts (16). Bauers’ blazing start put him on a short list of players to replace Judge if he were to get injured.

Jake Bauers was once a top prospect with the Tampa Bay Rays. In 2017 he was ranked as the fourth-best prospect in the Rays organization, via MLB Pipeline. However, his MLB career never took off. He was eventually traded to the then Cleveland Indians before being traded to the Seattle Mariners. Overall, Bauers has appeared in 328 major league games, hitting .213 with 27 home runs and 110 RBI.

The Yankees never want to see Aaron Judge hurt. But after his AAA breakout, the Yankees are at least impressed with what they have in Bauers.