What I'm Hearing About Aaron Judge's Injury

The New York Yankees aren't close to getting their superstar right fielder back from the injured list.

The Yankees have been without Aaron Judge since May 31 due to a stress fracture in his right rib. Since losing Judge, the Yankees have gone 15-19. They've also lost 14 of their last 19 games after a 10-5 start without their captain.

In addition to the stress fracture in his right rib, Judge is also dealing with an intercostal strain (overstretched or torn muscles between the ribs), as sources told Athlon Sports. These two injuries are often interconnected as a result of repetitive twisting of the torso.

According to GM Brian Cashman, Judge will be re-imaged during the All-Star break next week. Cashman and the Yankees don't expect Judge's imaging to come back clean. That said, if the imaging shows enough healing then Judge, who has been shut down since the end of May, will be able to start adding on more activity. As it stands, Judge hasn't been able to do any upper body activity or exercises that put stress on his rib.

“I think we’re anticipating and hopeful that it’s showing the healing process,” Cashman said, via The New York Post. “The time frame, regardless of what the findings are going to show, is going to be coming from our medical team. I haven’t even bothered to ask that question because his current condition restricts him in a lot of different ways. He can’t do a lot of things in the upper body that puts any stress on his rib cage.” 

Judge is in week six of an initial 4-6 week shut down period.

It's safe to say that Judge is sorely missed in a Yankees' lineup that has gone collectively cold as a unit without their biggest bat as well as slugging DH Giancarlo Stanton (right calf strain).

The Yankees are hoping Judge will be able to return by late August or early September. Judge will need a ramp up period, which will take several weeks, once he is cleared to begin baseball activities. The team should be able to hang around in the playoff picture until then in a weak American League.

The Yankees are 51-42 on the season and four games back of the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East division. As bad as the last few weeks have been, they still lead the top AL Wild Card spot by 4.5 games.