The New York Yankees are dealing with an injury to superstar slugger Aaron Judge.
Judge was out of the lineup on Tuesday in the Yankees series opener against the Cleveland Guardians due to a bone bruise in the right ribcage. However, pregame, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said it wasn’t serious and called him day-to-day.
Yet, following Tuesday’s 9-4 loss to the Guardians, Boone said Judge is now set to see a specialist to see what the next steps are.
“It’s kind of a unique spot,” Boone said postgame. “We’ll have the specialist probably look at it tomorrow and see where we’re at and see how he feels with it.”
Boone, going from day-to-day to now seeing a specialist, is concerning news, as it could very well be longer than day-to-day.
If Judge needs an IL stint, it would be a blow to the Yankees’ lineup, as he’s their top hitter and a huge reason for the team’s success. Yet, perhaps the specialist doesn’t see anything major wrong with Judge, and he can be back in the lineup in the coming days.
Judge is hitting .248 with 17 home runs and 38 RBIs this season.
Judge a ‘Huge Loss’ for Yankees
If Judge does need an IL stint, it would be a major loss to the Yankees lineup, and other players would need to step up.
“Obviously, it’s a huge loss in the lineup,” said Cody Bellinger. “We’ve all got to pick it up around him.”
Veteran slugger Paul Goldschmidt, meanwhile, is confident players would step up if he does need an IL stint.
“We’d love to have him in the lineup for this team; he’s the captain for a reason,” Goldschmidt said. “But if he does end up missing time, whether it’s short or long, the guys that are here are going to have to step up and play well.”
The injury does make sense, as Judge had struggled as of late. He’s hitting .208 with 1 home run, 8 RBIs, and 19 strikeouts since May 11, but Boone isn’t sure when the injury happened.
“The last couple of games in Sacramento, I think it became a little more than that, where I noticed it with some swings and stuff,” Boone said. “I think it was affecting him.”
Judge is the reigning back-to-back AL MVP and has won the award three times in the last four years.
Judge Still in MVP Consideration
Although Judge has struggled as of late, he still remains one of the top hitters in baseball.
With that, MLB.com had Judge second in the AL MVP race at the beginning of June, only trailing Yordan Alvarez.
“Whether Alvarez can indeed become a first-time MVP will largely depend on the performance of Judge, who has claimed the AL’s past two MVP Awards and three of the past four,” the article read. “Judge has still been excellent with 17 homers and a .907 OPS, but compared to his usual standards — he posted a 1.117 OPS from 2022-25 — he’s not quite playing at an MVP level. (A recently revealed bone bruise might explain that.) But for a hitter of Judge’s caliber, all it takes is one good hot streak.”
Judge currently has the best odds to win the AL MVP at +110.
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