Injuries have been a big problem for the New York Yankees over the last two years. It has affected many players on the Yankees. But none more than the Yankees top star, Aaron Judge. Currently, Aaron Judge is still dealing with a stress fracture in his rib that he suffered last September 18th after diving for a catch against the Los Angeles Angels. He would continue to play with the injury throughout the playoffs. Aaron Judge has also revealed that he had a collapsed lung which has fully healed.
Judge’s Tough Spring Training
Once Spring Training began in February, Aaron Judge was shut down. The Yankees had originally thought it was a shoulder injury and he needed to rest up. Then in early March after Judge missed several exhibition games the team would announce that Judge was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his rib. It’s the same rib Judge injured last season.
Judge was told to sit out at least two weeks. The doctors said that if there was no progress he would be required to have surgery on his rib. Not too long after he was diagnosed with the stress fracture, Judge also revealed that he had a collapsed lung which has healed up. The coronavirus hit soon after that and spring training was cancelled and the regular season was officially put on hold. This has given Judge an opportunity to see if his rib would heal without having surgery.
Aaron Boone’s Update on Judge
Aaron Boone released an update on Aaron Judge’s status this week with the possible rumors of baseball returning by July. Boone was very broad in his answer stating that it was healing and he would have a CT scan in a couple of weeks. He also said with this downtime it is encouraging to know that his injury is healing nicely.
Aaron Judge is No Stranger to Injury
Judge has had many injuries coming into the fourth full year of his MLB career. There are many concerns about whether he can stay healthy.
In July of 2018, he dealt with a chip fracture in his right wrist after being hit by a pitch. He would miss three weeks of action because of this. Last year he would miss some significant time after suffering an oblique strain running to first base on a base hit. The oblique injury caused Judge to miss two months of playing time before returning to action in mid-June. So to put it lightly, Judge has had a fair share of injuries in his short career.
All Rise for 2020
Aaron Judge has been a thorn in many teams’ side over his brief four-year career. He has hit 110 home runs with 387 hits with 66 doubles and 246 RBI with a batting average of .273. He has a career on-base percentage on .394 and a slugging percentage of .558.
The Yankees have very high expectations for him this upcoming season as he is expected to be a key contributor to the Yankees. They are counting on Judge to be a dominating force on offense like he was in 2017. The Yankees are also expecting him to have a Gold Glove-caliber season in rightfield. Since this will be a shortened 2020 season every game will be more important than ever.
If Aaron Judge can stay healthy and be a key contributor to the Bronx Bombers, he can very well lead this team to their 28th World Series title.
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