New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge will not participate in the American League Wild Card Series against the Boston Red Sox, which began Tuesday night in New York. Judge, sidelined since September 16 with a strained right calf, was excluded from the team’s postseason roster.

The three-time AL Most Valuable Player made an effort to return by taking live batting practice on Monday, the day before the series opener. During the practice, Judge walked twice, hit a comebacker to the pitcher, and took a called third strike facing teammates Ryan Weathers and Elmer Rodríguez. Despite these efforts, Yankees manager Aaron Boone and the medical staff decided to keep Judge inactive.

Judge’s recent injury follows a lengthy absence earlier in the season. He underwent a platelet-poor plasma injection on September 21 to aid recovery of his calf strain. Prior to that, the 34-year-old outfielder spent over three months on the injured list due to a fractured rib sustained on May 31, returning to play on September 8. Since his return, Judge has appeared in only seven games before the new injury sidelined him again just ahead of the postseason.

The Yankees enter the Wild Card Series without their star slugger as they face their longtime rivals, the Red Sox, in a matchup shaping up to test the depth of their roster.