The hits keep on coming for the New York Yankees.
In the wake of the Gerrit Cole news, fellow superstar Aaron Judge is dealing with multiple injuries to his oblique and his toe, which is not fully healed from last season when he tore a ligament after running into the fence at Dodger stadium.
The good news is that Judge is still expected to be ready by Opening Day, which is the goal. But the reality of the situation is that he has some serious pain to manage, which is why the Yankees are not letting him swing a bat until later in the week.
Without Judge, who missed nearly two months last season, the Yankees floundered as they relied on replacement players such as Jake Bauers and Billy McKinney. The result was less than stellar as they finished 82-80 and you’d have to believe they would have possibly snuck into a wild card spot had they had Judge for a full season.
Judge is the heart of the Yankees’ lineup that now has another superstar in outfielder Juan Soto. The Yankees are also relying on a banged up Judge to play center field every day, which is a taxing position and not ideal for a banged up player. With an already not fully healed toe from last year, covering all that ground in center field will eventually re-aggravate the existing injury, which will eventually hinder Judge at the plate from fully pivoting when swinging.
The Yankees are going to need to play it safe with Judge, but we are about two weeks away from the start of the regular season and there’s a possibility that the Bronx Bombers will be without both of their top superstars.
Soto is here now, which helps, but without Judge, the Yankees aren’t the juggernaut World Series contenders that GM Brian Cashman built them to be in the offseason.
More must-reads: