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SAN FRANCISCO — Before Saturday’s game against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park here, all of the Yankees hitters jammed into a cramped back room in the visitors’ clubhouse to go over the game plan against the opposing pitching staff. Nestled in the back was Aaron Judge.
Judge has not swung a bat in over a week and won’t for several more, at least, because of a strain of his left oblique muscle. But during his time on the Yankees’ bloated injured list, he has remained a noticeable part of the club’s efforts as a team leader and unofficial hitting adviser in a way that many other sidelined players have not.