#Yankees don’t see Aaron Judge’s stiff neck as long-term problem

“#Yankees don’t see Aaron Judge’s stiff neck as long-term problem”

Aaron Judge was removed from the starting lineup of Saturday’s simulated game at Yankee Stadium with a stiff neck.

“I don’t think it’s that big a deal,” Aaron Boone said following the game. “It just locked up on him when he woke up. He slept on it a little weird.”

Judge got treatment on it and Boone hopes Judge can play in Sunday’s sim game.

“I don’t expect it to be a long-term thing.”

He was replaced in right field by Tyler Wade.

Judge is coming back from a fractured rib that sidelined him in spring training, but he said he’d be ready for Opening Day of the upcoming 60-game season, which is scheduled for July 23 at Washington.

Masahiro Tanaka played catch in the outfield on Saturday at Yankee Stadium, as the right-hander continues to progress from the concussion he suffered last Saturday, when he was drilled in the head by a Giancarlo Stanton line drive that was clocked at 112 mph.

“We’re moving slowly with Masa, making sure he’s able to play catch a couple of times now,’’ Boone said. “He’s responded well to an elevated heart rate on the bike and elliptical and with his arm care work.”

Tanaka remains in the concussion protocol and the Yankees have not determined when he might pitch again or if he’ll be ready for the start of the regular season.

“Anytime we’re talking about a concussion, we make sure we’re moving slowly and smartly,’’ Boone said. “There’s no plan in place exactly when exactly things are gonna happen, but he is at least responding how we’d hoped.”

James Paxton said Tanaka’s improvement has been “amazing.”

“He seems great,’’ the left-hander said. “He seems completely normal. I think we got extremely lucky in that situation. It could have been way worse.”

Clarke Schmidt gave up a run in 2 ²/₃ innings in Saturday’s sim game and is looking forward to pitching at the Stadium in a regular season game — and at some point, in front of fans.

“I’m here to compete,’’ said Schmidt, one of the team’s top prospects. “I’ve always been a guy that performs with a chip on his shoulder. My attitude, I wouldn’t call it Napoleanic, but almost an underdog. That people doubt me, even if that may not be the case.”

Submit your Yankees questions here to be answered in an upcoming Post mailbag

And while being on the mound at an empty ballpark was fine, Schmidt said he wants “to be able to pitch in a full Yankee Stadium. That’s always been one of my dreams. It’s one of the things I’m looking forward to whenever it’s safest.”

Paxton threw at the Stadium on Friday to stay on schedule, even though the simulated game was rained out. He threw 66 pitches in the equivalent of five innings.

Boone stood in the batter’s box with Paxton on the mound.

“I was standing in a lot, so he had a menacing hitter looking at him,’’ Boone said.

Paxton, who underwent back surgery in February, felt good and said he was working on his arm angle, which had been “a little low” in spring training 2.0.

“When I was hurt, I had pain going down my left leg, from my glut down to my calf,’’ Paxton said. “I don’t have that anymore. I’m feeling strong. The next step for me is finding velocity.”

He doesn’t think that will happen until he’s in a live game closer to Opening Day.

“It will be good to see when I’m in the mid-to-high 90s,’’ Paxton said. “That would show me I’m 100 percent back.”

He expects to have two more simulated games before the season starts.

Asked if he’d be ready for the season opener, Paxton said: “I’d better be… I’m gonna be as ready as I can possibly be.”

The Yankees toyed with the idea of a five-man infield last year and they did it again on Saturday with Zack Britton on the mound in what Boone called “The Zack Britton package.”

“We almost used it in a game last year,’’ Boone said.

Tyler Wade and Aaron Hicks are two outfielders who can shift to the infield to take advantage of Britton’s ability to induce ground balls. Hicks, though, missed much of last season.

“If the right matchup came along, we probably wouldn’t hesitate to go with it,’’ Boone said.

Boone addressed players in various groups on Saturday, instead of addressing the entire team at once to promote social distancing.

“I’m having conversations with a number of different groups, picking spots where I can do it in smaller groups when I would normally address the team as a whole,’’ Boone said. “I did that three or four different times [Saturday].”