Yankees sophomore sensation Aaron Judge is still feeling pain when he swings a bat, per a tweet from Marc Carig of The Athletic. Certainly there’s still time for him to regain his health and strength in advance of the postseason (we still have three weeks until October, after all), but the news has to be disconcerting both for the Yankees organization and for Judge himself. The outfielder has been out of commission since July 26th after sustaining a chip fracture in his wrist, and though it was reported as recently as yesterday that he could be nearing a return after he was able to participate in on-field drills, the news that his pain level (still describes as a “4” on a 1-10 scale) casts some doubt on the notion that he could be back on the field within the next week or so.
- Corey Seager expects to play shortstop for the Dodgers next year, as he tells Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. Seager has had massive misfortune this year in regards to injuries; he suffered a UCL injury early on in the season that required the infamous Tommy John procedure, and had to undergo a second procedure on his hip soon thereafter. Recently, though, he’s expressed confidence in his recovery from these surgeries. Seager is already off of crutches, and he looks forward to resuming a throwing program next month. “Based to this point, I’ll be ready to go,” Seager said. “I should, ’quote unquote,’ have a pretty normal spring. It will probably be a little slow in the beginning, but should be pretty normal.”
- In light of the Rays’ success with creativity this season, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times details some of the most interesting aspects of the club’s strategy in 2018. Carig explores various aspects of the club’s advances back to contention, highlighted by the purging of veterans in order to bring focus to a new, young core. The coming out parties for players like Jake Bauers and Joey Wendle have been fun to watch, to be sure. But equally interesting has been their improvements in much broader aspects of the game: a few mentioned by Carig include the team’s improvement on the hard contact and line drive front, trimming of strikeouts, spike in batting average, and, of course, the adoption and implementation of the “opener” strategy.
selw0nk 2
Judge will most likely get surgery in the off season.
xabial
Wishful thinking, when he himself said he wasn’t, and didn’t need to.
southbeachbully
I don;t see why you’re so certain he might not need it. At this point, he should’ve been healed already. I hope he doesn’t need surgery but “setwonk” didn’t suggest something wild and crazy.
thegreatcerealfamine
“Wishful thinking” nowhere in selwonk’s post did he wish anything, instead just stated a point…
Daver520
Thank you Dr Jobe for that update .
qbass187
Could be. The reality is it will take a calendar year for this kid to get back to “normal”. If he does at all. wrist injuries can ruin careers. Look around at players who suffer this same/similar an injury. Don’t get your hopes up of seeing anything close to the player he was previously until at least mid-season 2019.
rock6622
The best comp is look at Justin Turner. Wrist fracture that didn’t need surgery and he is just now back to what he was doing before the injury.
thecoffinnail
Mark Teixeira comes to mind as well.
xabial
Not all wrist injuries are created equal:
Teixeira had a “partially torn sheath tendon.” (Tried without surgery, and Failed big time)
Turner had a “small non- displaced fracture”
Aaron Judge had a “chip fracture”
Three wrist injuries, three different outcomes.
jdgoat
Nice to see the Rays having a good season. They get a lot of flak but they are one of the most progressive and intelligently run teams in the league.
bheath33
Andrew Friedman who? Have done a great Job after he left
slider32
Agreed, but this team needs a new owner and needs to be relocated. They just are a long shot as now constructed.
holecamels35
Rays, success?
Show me their playoff spot. They used to have a very good rotation, now they use relievers because only a few of them are above average, and they use and discard outfielders like paper plates.
bravesandcrewfan
They have as good of a record as the Braves. In the AL East. That’s why.
jdgoat
They’re 14 games over .500. Put them in the AL central and they’re a playoff team. And are you trying to punish them for using strategy? God, why do teams try to improve their chances of winning?
lowtalker1
Give them a better city and a bigger payroll. Just like that they’re contenders
xabial
You forgot “better division”
rocky7
The Rays have done more with less than any other team in the majors….interesting strategy pitching wise has paid off nicely for them…good to hear kudos for a manager other than Joe Madden in Chicago for innovating something to help his team.
nmendoza7
a rotation led off with Snell, then Yarn, Glasnow, Chirinos is actually good looking but hey, extreme bias and ignorance is great.
Blue_Painted_Dreams_LA
They also experienced a substantial amount of injuries to their young prospects that will be featured in the future rotation. So it’s disingenuous to solely look at the rotation and relievers and make a blanket statement. Also to the next point OFs are extremely easy to find mold and replace. It’s also not as though they gave up anything of major substance in the OF. So your statement sort of lacks much substance to their future.
Kenleyfornia74
In any other year they are a playoff team. If this was last year they run away with a WC spot.
fljay73
Huh?
By ’13 their farm system was not that good/deep.
They decided to focus on improving that.
They turned to younger Vets to be competitive while their prospects developed. This season they have been turning to those younger players on the big league roster. They did lose prospective SP prospects Honeywell & De Leon to Tommy John surgeries this past February. The Rays have younger pitchers that they decided to use as multi inning relievers to maximize their effectiveness & to minimize their usage in their first big league seasons. They have also used relievers for a inning or less that throw high 90s heat before they turn to those younger pitchers. Since the All Star break the Ray’s record has gotten better & better each month. Maybe no playoffs this season but the Rays outside of adding a few pieces to their bullpen in ’19 have no serious roster holes & can just make baseball trades to free up 40 man roster spots or to add to that bullpen (or both).
mikeyank55
Hey Hole-taking your reasoning, look at the Mets and their dream rotation. Compare the record of this A market team with the C market Rays with no starting staff. That blows a huge hole in your argument. Next time study first, shoot only after you know what you are talking about
getright11
The Mets are in your head something awful.
realistnotsucker
Nice knowing you Manny
andrewgauldin
Jake Bauers having a “coming out party” type season? A .194 BA and .688 ops? Yes he’s worth .4 war, probably some good defense. But this guy is easily replaceable either via moving a OF to 1B, or moving An infielder like Wendle, Robertson, or whomever else over there. They could even look into free agency, but I doubt that since we are talking about the Rays.
rxbrgr
Yes and he’s batted a .091/.259/.102 line over his last 30 games. Yikes – no breakout there!
Rays_Fan_Engima
He’s a rookie going through a slump. He’ll be back on track next year I’m sure.
fljay73
He has not a good last month & is in a obvious slump at the moment.
bballblk
If Corey Seager were in the American League (and hadn’t had a hip surgery) would he have still been able to DH this year like doctors say Ohtani plans to next year?
Codeeg
Given his value at SS. No.
simon155
Looks like Judge has picked up the toughness and pain tollerance of Ellsbury
thegreatcerealfamine
It must take a pain tolerance off the charts to troll this hard…
Cardinals17
Exactly
mikeyank55
Looks like a dumb comment from a simple mind. Why don’t you stand in their with a bat and I will pound you in on your fists?
Bald Vinny
This pot has met there* kettle.
SaberSmuckers
Ha! Nice.
getright11
You dont even throw hard, Mike
Bruin1012
That’s rich coming from you Mikeyank.
thegreatcerealfamine
Bruin..You’re preaching to the choir.
matt4baseball
The Rays are the most feared team in baseball right now!!! no-one wants to play them ! #1 in pitching, #3 in hitting! Check with the Boston fans and watch them with Cleveland and the As this week! Next year is the Rays year! Watch how many teams use the 1st-2nd inning starters as the Rays do next year.
qbass187
The RAYS are winning in garbage time? Who cares? What else is new?
They’re NEVER in it when it counts. They’re always nothing more than the ultimate tease.
antsmith7
Rays are going to have Honeywell and Meadows up next year as well. They should be a really good team.
Sirsleepit
Jake bauers has been awful so I don’t really get how he’s enjoying a “coming out party.” Now, Mallex Smith has been a ton of fun to watch by comparison
BlueSkyLA
Describing the Tommy John procedure as “infamous” seems a bit odd, considering how many careers it has saved and its very high rate of success. In fact it is highly reputable, which is just the opposite of infamous.
matt4baseball
The Rays FO and their owner are doing a terrific job! As a Rays fan, I was upset with some of the trades this year, However I was wrong since so many of the players we got are doing great!. As for Stu the owner, He’s planning on paying for 1/3 of the new stadium and us citizens the rest,.I don’t know if we can afford that. I go to games with only 12-16k fans? to many transplanted fans with loyalty to other teams down here in Florida.
Codeeg
The Rays are so unafraid of unconventional baseball. I don’t think they have the best talent, but they certainly get very efficient value of what they do have through roster optimization.