NEW YORK -- Aaron Judge will not play for the New York Yankees in the American League Wild Card series, but fellow slugger Giancarlo Stanton -- who hasn't played in over five months -- was included on the roster. Judge was left off New York's 26-man roster, submitted Tuesday, after attempting to convince Yankees officials that his calf injury was healed enough for the start of the postseason. The three-time American League MVP has not played since straining his right calf on Sept. 16, which was his seventh game back with the Yankees after missing more than three months with a fractured rib.

But the Yankees did include Stanton, who was activated from the 60-day injured list Tuesday. Outfielder Trent Grisham, who also finished the regular season on the IL, also is on the roster for the best-of-three series against the Boston Red Sox, which begins Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. Left-hander Ryan Weathers, another member of the Yankees' lengthy injured list, was left off. The Yankees will carry 16 position players and just 10 pitchers for the series, an unusual composition for a postseason roster.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone last week described Judge's injury as a "moderate grade" strain and said the team was not expecting the eight-time All-Star to be ready for the ALWCS. But he did not rule out the possibility and Judge, visibly annoyed by his manager's public handling of his situation last week, remained determined to demonstrate he would be ready. Stanton, who has hit 18 home runs with a .926 OPS in 48 career postseason games, has not played since straining his right calf April 24. He is expected to be used exclusively as a pinch hitter against the Red Sox.

Judge took a few rounds of swings during practice and drove a home run to left-center field with the final pitch he saw. He later took four at-bats against Yankees pitchers -- one against Weathers and three against right-hander Elmer Rodriguez. Judge then walked off the field without doing any running. Without Judge running the bases or running on the field at all, having him return to play right field was not realistic. The Yankees could have carried Judge strictly as a pinch hitter, but they have Stanton earmarked for that role. Ultimately, the Yankees decided to move forward without a compromised version of their best player.